Vengeance is a dish best served late
by starheart.fallenstar
Summary: (Post Season 3) While Korra recovers from her fight with Zaheer on Air Temple Island, an Equalist foot soldier, an Unalaq follower, and a low-rank Red Lotus member are coming together to try to take down the crippled Avatar! The emphasis is on 'try'... [Heavily Korrasami]
1. Chapter 1 : What past is not past

**Chapter 1 : What past is not past**

It was a fine day on Air Temple Island, as a warm breeze carried the smell of the ocean. A thin cloud blocked the sunlight making the courtyard cool enough to hang around in. To seize the opportunity of such nice weather, Asami wheeled Korra to a flower garden for some sunlight and fresh air.

The other airbenders on the island were busy with training or answering the press; who didn't seem to understand the concept of isolation or privacy, as they had been here every day since the official announcement of the Air Nation. Tenzin, Jinora, and the other students were using most of their patience, so as not to soil the reputation of a newly born nation by blowing the entirety of the annoying press off the shore. Although a week ago, Kai had almost beaten one of the journalists with his glider for making fun of Jinora's baldness.

Mako had just gotten a promotion and rarely left the police station. Bolin was currently staying in Zaofu with Varrick, discussing about a new propaganda film in an effort to help sustain the situation in Ba Sing Se. They said something about it being a sequel to 'The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South'.

Tonraq had to go back to the south pole to govern the tribe. At first, Senna wanted to stay with Korra but decided to go back to help her husband. While she does worry, she knows that her daughter will be in good care, since Katara herself now stays on the island to prepare healing sessions for Korra once a week.

Needless to say, taking care of Korra has become a full-time job for Asami. She helps the Avatar on a daily basis, accompanying her while she goes to healing sessions, and spending every bit of free time she has to give Korra moral support, either just to chit chat or take her to watch the sunset by the beach. The Avatar, who at first felt a little bit gloomy seeing everyone barely having enough time for her, has come to appreciate the level of personal care she received from Asami.

Korra inhaled a deep breath of fresh air as the tulips swayed like a colorful wave in the passing breeze. Asami takes her to the middle of the garden so she's surrounded by all the flowers. The Avatar may still look feeble and crippled, but she is in far better condition than she was in the first three weeks. The bags under her eyes are almost gone, and she can eat solid food, even if it's only a limited amount. While it still feels exhausting to move her body, it no longer causes her any pain or ache.

"Her recovery may be slow, but it's all just part of her physical condition. Her mental condition is as good as it can be. It's only a matter of time before she can walk again." Katara's words made Asami smile as she picked up a tulip and gave it to Korra. The Avatar tries sniffing at the relaxing scent that the flower exudes, but her senses are still a little numb from whatever poison the Red Lotus used on her.

"I could almost smell the sweetness of the petal...almost."

Even in disappointment, Korra still tucks the flower behind her ear before she feels a smooth palm on her shoulder. Asami nods her head a little so she could whisper in Korra's ear, "Don't worry. Your senses will return soon."

"Hope so, the food can't be as good as it is if my tongue can't taste anything," Korra tries to speak with a cheerful tone, though it still sounds raspy and is barely louder than a whisper.

Asami knows better than to continue their conversation and just stands beside the wheelchair; letting Korra close her eyes as another low breeze blows past the garden, losing herself in the moment of the silent and peaceful day.

"Miss Asami!"

The heiress was not expecting the moment to last forever, but she wishes it could have lasted a little longer without being interrupted so roughly with a yell from one of the White Lotus guards that was running towards them. Korra was spooked a little by the sudden loud noise but Asami pats her shoulder softly to calm her down.

"Yes?" Asami tries to hide the irritation in her voice.

This guard looks quite young and seems to have a lot to learn about proper behavior, "Your presence is required at the temple, ma'am. The press is waiting for you there."

"What does the press want with me?"

The guard glances swiftly at Korra, Asami understanding the meaning and immediately snapped before he could answer, "I thought everyone agreed not to give any info about the Avatar to the press yet. She's still in recovery and needs her privacy!"

"I know, ma'am. But master Tenzin said that today we should give them a few details so the press would stop asking. He thinks you should be the one to give an interview since you know what should or shouldn't be told."

The heiress sighs heavily. She is considers for a moment before turning to whisper to Korra, who had given her a curious look during the entire conversation since she couldn't hear well enough to know what they were talking about. Asami explains the entire situation about the press, "I'll just go tell them something pointless so they can shut up for a while."

"Try to be polite with them, Asami. You and your company do have a reputation to keep."

Korra raised her hand to touch the heiress' cheek gently. She knows Asami is upset with the press for continually trying to intervene on her privacy, and while Korra appreciates her concern, she also doesn't want Asami to overreact or say something mean to the public that she would later regret.

"It won't take long. I'll be right back," Asami kisses Korra's eyelid softly before turning around and walking out of the garden, leaving the Avatar with a young guard who looked a little bit disturbed by the intimacy of the two women.

"You...must be tired from all of this attention, Miss Avatar," The young guard spoke loudly so the Avatar could hear, since he didn't feel comfortable whispering behind her ear like Asami had done.

"A little, but I'll always prefer being annoyed to being lonely any day. At least the attention means that some of them still care about me."

"You have such an optimistic point of view, Miss Avatar."

"Thanks, optimistic is what I need to get through this rough time."

"You have been through many challenges in the past before, Miss Avatar. I'm confident you can get through this one as well."

While his words were like honey to her ears, Korra started to feel exhausted from speaking too much so she cut their conversation short with silence. She took a deep breath and stared openly at the horizon with a pale smile, waiting for Asami to return.

"But of course, you never know when the _PAST_ will come back to bite you later..." the once mild, gentle tone had suddenly shifted to a cold piercing voice as the young man whispered to himself, knowing the Avatar couldn't hear him since she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings.

His right hand slipped under his White Lotus uniform before slowly pulling it back out with an electric glove in place. The blue glowing spark from the glove's palm failed to catch Korra's eye. She couldn't even feel the menacing grin on the face of the person behind her. The suspicious guard whispers while moving his finger with joyful excitement.

"**It's time for you to finally get equalized, Miss Avatar."**


	2. Chapter 2 : Equalization

**Chapter 2 : Equalization**

Bilan would never forget that day; the day his hopes and dreams fell apart. The dream he shared of a better world; the world of equals, the world...without benders.

His leader defeated; and his organization lost all of the people's support immediately after Amon had fallen to the...ehh..._dirty trick!_...of the Avatar. She was so cunning and manipulative that she deceived the public eye to destroy Amon's image! At least that's a story Bilan was going with since he didn't want to face the cruel reality that his leader was a bloodbender, yet.

"We will have our revenge! The Avatar must die!" Bilan and his team of middle-rank Equalist foot soldiers shouted as encouragement, but were disappointed immediately after half of the team left when they heard that they have to travel to the south pole to follow the Avatar.

_Those traitorous cowards! How dare they abandon their principle so easily? And why did they only talk about aborting the mission AFTER the ship they snuck on board already left the shore!?_

Bilan remembered the anger and pain he had felt...watching all of his traitorous friends jump off the ship and swim back to the coast; leaving him and another guy name Ake, the only two people who can't swim, to face their destiny alone. Would helping to carry them to the shore be that much of a problem?

"We're gonna die, aren't we?"Ake asked while the two hid in the engine room. Bilan sighed hopelessly. He glanced out the ceiling window to see the statue of Avatar Aang that used to look ten times better with Amon's mask on.

"Nah, the Avatar doesn't kill people. He even spared his arch-enemies like that numbnuts Ozai, remember?" Bilan said trying to comfort himself. If the Avatar had spared the lunatic fire lord who tried to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom, he was sure they wouldn't do anything brutal to the poor harmless henchmen.

"But...it's _her _now, not _him_," Ake pointed out, differentiating between the peaceful, loveable pacifist young boy, and the maniac teenage girl who they heard broke into councilman Tarrlok's office and attempted to beat the crap out of him for rightfully arresting her friends. "When you think about it, Ozai never did anything personal to Avatar Aang, his grandfather was the one who eradicated the Air Nomads."

"What's your point?"

"Our boss took Avatar Korra's bending away, for someone who was born to be the master of all elements, it couldn't get more personal than that."

The explanation send a chill down their spines; since Amon had disappeared after the revolution fell, Korra may take vengeance on any Equalist she met on sight. The two began to think that it was a bad idea to fully dress in Equalist uniforms on this mission.  
They sat quietly for the rest of the journey, shivering as they prayed to the spirits that no one would come looking for anything in the engine room.

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* * *

.

Naga ran off to a lonely cliff by the sea with Korra on her back. Neither of them noticing the two figures who keep their distance, but followed them closely enough to not let the Avatar out of their sight.

It's a miracle that the Equalists had arrived safely at the South Pole; the White Lotus guards on the ship were indeed too incompetent to spot the stowaways. They snuck off the ship and stalked the Avatar, patiently waiting for the moment when she's alone.

Bilan didn't know if Amon actually lied about the spirits talking to him or not, but he was confident that some supernatural occurrence must be helping them right now. They had watched the Avatar run off alone, forbidding any of her comrades to follow, and now stood dangerously close to the edge of the icy cliff. Perhaps it was sign that the universe really wanted her dead.

"You take care of the dog. I'll take care of the Avatar," Bilan whispered as they hid behind a giant boulder, handing a blow pipe with a tranquilizer dart to Ake.

"How? You saw it, she can still airbend! Maybe Amon forgot to count when he did that thumb on the forehead thing?"

"So? She only has one element."

"Just like every other bender, and we still had a hard time taking them down!"

Bilan clenched the electric glove with annoyance while turning back to his paranoid friend, "She could never airbend until recently!"

"Not that we've _seen_. She may have intended to keep it as a secret weapon. You said it yourself, she's cunning."

"My point is!...she can't be very skilled if it's something she barely uses, and just look at her right now!" Ake follow his friend's finger that pointed to the Avatar who now sat desperately by the cliff.

Bilan continued sarcastically, "Aww...look. The lady Avatar feels so sad. She lost her supernatural ability to **breathe fire**, and **move a mountain!** Now she has to live the rest of her life as a _NORMAL PERSON_. What a nightmare! Everybody knows that humans couldn't survive one day without a **_freaking bending power!_**"

Bilan threw his arms in the air before spitting with disgust. Ake frowned as he started to feel bad for the Avatar, "Sometimes you're really mean, you know that?"

"Thank you! Now put that dog to sleep. I bet with her being all weepy and dopey like this, I could sneak up and push her of the cliff with one hand tied behind my back."

"Doesn't airbending give the bender the ability to fly? Or at least glide?"

"She'll be busy crying and screaming all the way down. She won't even have enough time to breathe, let alone airbend."

The two turned back to watch the Avatar after their long conversation. To their surprise, Korra was now standing up and she acted like she talking to somebody. However there's no one there, only a vast and empty snow field as far as the eye can see. It doesn't look like she talking to her pet either since she was facing a different direction.

The two Equalists look at each other before look back to her. She still talking, and now standing in a weird position like someone is touching her.

"Oh Spirits, she finally broke, didn't she?" Bilan came to his conclusion that the Avatar had just gone insane because she couldn't handle the pressure becoming a regular human. What a pitiful and hilarious end, now she would be a laughingstock among the Avatar's past lives after she dies.

"Well! Since she lost all her sanity and dignity, and will probably spend the rest of her live in a mental ward, I might as well put her out of her misery!" as the electric glove charged up with a glowing blue spark, Bilan's voice is shamefully cheerful for someone who was about to commit euthanasia.

Before Bilan could take one step out of their hiding place, and before Ake could blow a sleep dart out of a pipe, they noticed a strange vibe transmit around the cliff, like a thick cloud hovering right before a thunderstorm.

Suddenly, a bright light beam burst out of the Avatar, creating a small whirlwind that lifted her body up and allowed her to float steadily in the air; her glowing eyes piercing through the vast ocean with a calm but determined expression. The two Equalists were frozen where they stood, not by the cold or the ice, but by fear.

Korra lifted her hands to shoulder height, summoning a whirl of air, fire and earth to spread around her. The wind itself spread far enough to unintentionally knock Bilan and Ake down to the ground. They sat up in time to see the Avatar command a huge wave of sea water, towering about two stories high in mid-air.

"...Still think you could push her of a cliff?..." Ake whispered during the most frightening moment of his life, before he and Bilan double-timed it out of there. They stole some clothes from the village so they could ditch the Equalist uniforms and put them in one of the incinerators. Afterwards the two men would either get a ticket or stowaway on the first ship leaving the south pole, never to set foot on the Avatar's homeland for the rest of their lives!

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* * *

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Painful and embarrassing memories flood passed Bilan's consciousness, as he stands behind the Avatar. She's alone, similar to the last encounter they had, except no amount of glowing eyes or salt water going to save her this time.

After his failed attempt to assassinate the Avatar when she lost her bending a year ago, the Equalist movement was done for as far Bilan knew. His team had been dispatched, all the members had either gone into hiding or become a fugitive. His last colleague, Ake, now follows his idol's footsteps and became a wandering merchant, traveling across the four nations with his own cabbage cart. Not much of an ambitious goal for idolization but Ake seemed very happy with his career choice.

It didn't matter anyway in the end; Bilan wouldn't have invited Ake to come with him on this mission even if he was still with the Equalists. The guy was too kind, too soft, and not cut out for a job like this. A job for someone who wasn't afraid to get their hand dirty for the greater good, someone like Bilan! A warrior who was going to _kill a helpless crippled girl, with her back turned, when she's alone with no way to fight back, and him using an automatic weapon_...okay...this was the part where he'd better stop thinking before his morality and self-esteem kick in.

Bilan lifted his glove and leveled it with Korra's head. She still hadn't notice anything, and with one swift strike he could kill her immediately. A simple touch at the back of her neck would send an electric shock down her spine; her body wouldn't be able to survive it in such weak state. It would be a quick, silent, and maybe even painless...death.

The thought of everything ending in a blink of an eye made Bilan hesitate. All that time of hiding from the authorities, wandering around from town to town, and being constantly paranoid at the thought of some bender recognizing him as an Equalist and not taking too kindly to such title, yet...with all of that suffering, he still kept track of the Avatar. What did she do, where did she go, waiting patiently for the moment when she'd be vulnerable and thinking that it looked like it would never come, until now.

To end this mission so quickly would be...absurd. No, he wants to savor the moment. Bilan set the charge on the glove to the lowest level; for normal people this would only tickle them, but for the Avatar in her ill state, it would make her scream in pain without killing her.

"I know this is kinda sick, but I'll enjoy it."

The electric glove slowly moved toward the Avatar. Bilan only needed to hear just one painful scream to satisfy his inner beast, before he snapped that little neck of hers and would finally have his sweet revenge.

Even before the spark touched her mocha skin, he already heard a scream in his mind...  
...a very...very _intended_ scream...

...not much of a painful tone, though... more like an..._anger_... a **roar**.

...when he heard the voice in his mind, it usually didn't have a source or direction, but Bilan could swear he felt like this scream was coming from his left side, closing in at every second.

The Equalist backed out of his inner thoughts and turned to the left. He saw white fur rushing through the garden, the roar sound mixing between dog and bear. It...ran really fast in comparison to its enormous size.

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* * *

.

A butterfly glided gently passed Korra's face before stopping on the tulip she had tucked behind her ear. Its wings were the color of a rainbow, making the Avatar smile relaxingly. Normally she didn't engage in any of this _'girly'_ or _'feminine'_ stuff, but with her injuries limiting her usual exert activity down to zero, she might as well enjoy whatever life gave her at this point.

So the Avatar continued looking at the horizon, savoring the moment of a peaceful day. Meanwhile, about seven to eight meters away, too far for Korra to hear anything, Naga had pinned Bilan to the ground and started to violently rip him apart.

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* * *

**Ps. No Equalists were harmed in the writing of this fiction.**

** Pss. 'Bilan' and 'Ake' are Thai names, I figured that while we may be an unpopular part of Asia, we still Asian nonetheless, so I decided to use names native to my language instead of coming up with Chinese or Japanese name.**

** Psss. Bilan means 'Fan palm leaves'. Ake means 'The first/ The only one'**


	3. Chapter 3 : Naga Heroine of the flower

**Chapter 3: Naga: Heroine of the Flower Garden**  
**.**

* * *

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"For the last time, No! We do not consider rebuilding all of the Air temples in the world to be an immediate urgency!"

Tenzin had been answering all the press at the courtyard; he tried to keep his voice calm and composed, but failed miserably.

"We aim to focus all of our efforts to help sustain the situation in Ba Sing Se, to which we hope that..."Jinora's words were cut short when all the press shot their next question at the same time, but not the same question, so nobody could understand what on earth they asking about. The young master felt a little bit angry and annoyed that none of the journalists would listen to what she was saying.

Lin sighed with sympathy for the airbenders. Her police squad was assigned here to ensure the safety of the journalists, as if the press knew that they were going to piss somebody off. Right now the only threat Lin had to be aware of was herself. More than once she had wished to wrap all the journalists with her cables and send them back to the city...with one throw. The best she could do for herself was to willingly ignore when Kai tried to hit one of the press week ago.

"Tenzin. I'm here,"

Asami walked into the courtyard, and immediately shifted the attention of the press to her like honey attracting a scorpion bee. Three of the airbender students quickly used their staffs to block some of the press that tried to rush toward her.

Tenzin walking close to Asami so they could whisper, "What are you doing here?"

"What? You're the one who call me here," Asami frown at Tenzin, who in turn frowned back at her, "No, I didn't! I thought you were with Korra?"

"I was, until one of the White Lotus guards came to me. He said that you wanted me to give an interview regarding some details of Korra's condition, so the press would stop bothering us for a while."

"An interview? But that..." Tenzin pause for a second, eye narrow down as he rub his beard, "That...actually sounds like a good idea. I thought if we kept quiet, the press would just give up. But I guess I underestimate their determination."

He look at the courtyard, noting that some of his students now had to take a battle stance in order to push back the journalists. Nothing was more tragic than to see a thousand years of a martial art have to be use again a group of crazy newspaperman.

"Wait. So you didn't call me? Then what about that guard?"

"Not that I remember, but...I do often mumble to myself about the problem with the press, maybe one of the guard accidentally heard something and thought that was an order."

Asami didn't buy that reason entirely, but she was worried about leaving Korra alone for too long. Discussing the matter would probably result in more wasted time.

"Tell them I ready, but it'll be just a short interview."

"They have to learn to satisfy with what they got, not what they want."

Tenzin grinned with a sad smile at his own words. He knew full well these press would keep screaming until they got what they wanted.  
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* * *

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"Good spirits, how did I forget about you!?" Bilan cursed through his teeth as the polar bear dog tried to chew his right arm off; ripping most of his White Lotus's uniform to rags. Luckily he was wearing a light armor padding under his clothes, as was the dressing protocol for every foot soldier.

Bilan bashed his glove to the middle of the beast's forehead, forgetting that he had set it at the lowest level. The shock didn't tickle the animal as much as it did to anger her more than she was previously.

The polar bear dog bit down on the electric glove and pulled it out of Bilan's hand before throwing it away with her mouth. Naga's fangs had had enough of metal and leather pieces; she started biting through the White Lotus' uniform. Bilan noted that its lame design got along pretty well with its uselessness as far as protection went. Naga finally tasted the flesh and blood of the little bastard who dared to attack her master.

The pain from his fresh wound didn't make Bilan's blood boil as much as his thoughts; that he had thrown his magnificent Equalist uniform into an incinerator a year ago to save himself from the Avatar, only to die in the fashion abomination called the 'White Lotus's uniform'! If he didn't know better he'd think these clothes were designed specifically for an old person.

Bilan began jabbing his index and middle finger at Naga throat. The polar bear dog, feeling as though she's getting bitten by a snake; backs away on instinct, leaving some space for Bilan to roll backward and finally get out of the beast's grasp.

Chi blocking isn't quite as effective against the animal, which is evident by the angry look on the polar bear dog as she grunted at him. She was ready to go for a second round, this time she anticipated which of his two fingers she is going to bite off; just like she had done with that sparking glove. Bilan glanced briefly at the Avatar, she is sitting still in her chair like nothing happen. Could she not have noticed this entire fight that take place behind her back?

That was impossible even in her ill state; so she _did _notice, but was willingly going to let her pet eat him like a special meal!? Bilan knew the Avatar was a hot-head, aggressive girl, but he didn't know she was a cold blooded monster!

Naga took another leap at the Equalist, but Bilan popped out a smoke bomb a threw it to the ground, creating a thick black screen that confused the beast long enough for him to escape.

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* * *

.  
A short moment had passed since Naga had been looking around for a vanished intruder. She tries to track his smell but it seemed that the smoke bomb contained some kind of deodorant. The polar bear dog ends her search and walks to Korra, before laying down beside her wheelchair.

A light snore escapes the Avatar mouth; the relaxation was so overwhelming that it had put her into a peaceful sleep long before Naga rushed in to save her. Korra smiled to herself as she enjoyed her dream, completely unaware of the assassination attempt that happened only a few moments before.

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	4. Chapter 4 : Justify Brutality

**Chapter 4: Justified Brutality**

**.**

* * *

**.**

"Avatar Korra is doing well with her recovery. However, her injuries were nearly fatal, so she will need more time to fully heal. Thank you," Asami's so called 'interview' was released in one go without a moments breath. Tenzin was quite impressed, she wasn't kidding when she said this was going to be a short one.

The heiress turned around and was about to leave the courtyard, ignoring any further, idiotic questions of _'can you give a specific time and date when the Avatar will be fully heal?'_ or _'Are the symptoms effecting her bending ability as well?'_.

**_"Do you think we still need Avatar Korra?"_**

This one sentence froze Asami mid-step, at first with surprise, follow by confusion, and ending with anger. She snapped her head back to look at the owner of that particular question, a smug-looking journalist with a sneaky grin on his face; as though he felt proud that his words drew everyone's attention and made the courtyard fall silent.

"What...did...you say?" Asami's calm, cold, intimidating voice confronted the guy; snapping Tenzin out of his shock from the previous question.

The journalist either didn't notice or could care less as he explained with a cheerful tone, "With the Air Normad...Sorry!...Air Nation now reborn and taking the front role to deal with the riot in Ba Seng Se. The White Lotus is doing pretty good job hunting down all the remainder of the Red Lotus, and we no longer have any secret society to cause any more of this so call_ 'revolution'_. Is there anything left for Avatar Korra to do? Or did she plan to return to her Pro-bending career? Last time I checked, I believe both of her teammates won't be available, because unlike the Avatar, those two are now actually doing something productive for the society."

"How could you!?..."

"I'm just saying!..." the journalist interrupt Asami mid-sentence, "...that if Avatar Korra is still kicking around, I wouldn't mind at all. However, considering her crippled state, she can't take on any responsibility, or...what did they call it again?... Right!**_Bring balance to the world_.** Since we don't know how long will take for her to heal, _or even if she going to heal at all..._"

Some of the airbender students gasped, if not for the shock that such cruel words would could come out from someone who claimed to be a publisher, they would have formed the same whirlwind they used to take down Zaheer, and blown him along with all of the press out of the island. Any casualty would have been acceptable at this point.

"With that said. _We might as well get a new Avatar already!_ The next one is going to be an earthbender, right? Wouldn't that give something for people at Ba Sing Se to be excited about?..."

That was a last straw, Asami didn't care if this moron knew what he was saying, wanting the next Avatar meant he was asking for _Korra to just give up and die!_ The heiress felt Tenzin's hand catch her arm before she could rush out and rip that ugly smile out of the journalist's face.

Asami tried to struggle out of Tenzin's grip, but something happened that almost wiped her anger clean in the blink of an eye. The ground in front of the journalist shook for a moment before a piece of earth rose up and struck his face dead center, almost looking like he had been punched with a stone fist. The impact sent him flying backward onto his back, near the end courtyard. He managed to remain conscious, attempting to sit upright while covering his now broken and bleeding nose.

"Argh! W...What the!?...

A metallic footstep silenced his whining. The journalist looked up to see the chief of police towering over him, her calm expression now reflected an iceberg that was about to burst into a volcano.

"The interview is over."

Lin's voice sounded like a sharp blade that rubbed softly against everyone's ears. She turned to the rest of the press and repeated her words in the same tone, adding "my men will escort all of you back to the city. Please follow them..."

"How dare you! This is police brutality!" The injured journalist yelled while standing up, pointing his finger at the chief. "You cost me four of my teeth! The President will be informed about this! You'll be..."

Another piece of earth rose up and punched him with presumably the same amount of force as the first time, but possibly a little bit more since this strike tossed him all the way back to the shoreline and knocked him out cold.

"You're lucky I still left you some (teeth) in that disgusting hole you call 'mouth'," Lin whispered to herself before turning back to the rest of the press. Seeing them still standing around, mumbling amongst themselves made her patience finally run dry.

**"TO THE SHIP! _NOW!_"**

All of the jibber-jabber ended as they rushed back to the shore with Lin's men following behind. At the same time Tenzin turned to his students and told them to return to their training. Other than himself, only Bumi, Asami, Jinora, and Lin remained in the courtyard.

"You know you're not going to come out of this looking good, right?" Tenzin's question was mixed with both gratitude and concern towards Lin.

"I'm sure looking forward to tomorrow's morning paper," Bumi said.

Lin sighs with relief, she was finally able to let out her pressure on someone who deserved it, before responding Tenzin, "No rubbish words from them is going to harm me more than it's going to harm Korra."

Lin turned to Asami, who has appreciation in her eyes at the fact that Lin was the one to step up so she didn't have to ruin her public reputation; and also because no matter what Asami intended to do with that guy, it was not going to surpass smashing him with blunt rock, twice.

Lin softly gripped the girl's shoulder, knowing that the scum reporter's words probably hurt her the most, "I'm sure you familiar with the nonsensical brains of the press, but in case you don't, let me remind you. That moron's word didn't mean anything, don't remember it, don't even think about it, and most importantly..._do not tell Korra about this_. It isn't worth her time."

Asami nodded, there's no way she's going to let that journalist be a setback for Korra on her recovery. She was willing to sabotage all the radios and burn all the newspapers on the island if she had to, in order to keep those venomous words far away from Korra.

Lin stomped her foot to plop all the rock she summoned back into place before leaving. Asami hurried back to Korra. Tenzin, his brother and daughter were about to go inside the temple, when they noticed a figure approach from the shore shortly after the ferry with Lin and the press left.

A good looking young man with an almost bald head, and dressed like a wanderer, walked into the courtyard. He bowed his head to greet all of them before asking politely, "Master Tenzin. Do you have a moment?" His good manners hinted to them that he wasn't with the press.

"Yes, young man. How could I help you?"

Instead of answering, The stranger spread his arm out and waved it around, creating a small whirlwind in front of him before returning to his relaxed pose. He bowed his head again as if to offer his previous performance to Tenzin for consideration.

"You're an airbender!" Jinora said happily.

He turns to nod at her before introducing himself, "My name is Ton-gla. I was born as a non-bender, but not long ago I discovered that I suddenly had the ability to airbend. I had been traveling around the world and only recently received word that there is a new establishment of the Air Normads..."

"Nation," Bumi corrected his words, only to receive an elbow to the rib from Tenzin for interrupting their conversation.

"My apologies! Air Nation. Anyhow, I wish to be the part of the long lost culture that has reborn once more, but...I'm not sure if there's any condition or standard that required from me in order to join the other airbenders."

Aside from his daughter, Tenzin felt like this was the only other young airbender who had a passion in the history of their culture that he had ever met. He would have given the boy big hug by now if he didn't have a teacher's reputation to keep. Tenzin only smiled and answered calmly, "Being an airbender is all that's required. Welcome to Air Temple Island. Ton-gla."

.

* * *

.

Korra felt the darkness around her slowly crumble, replacing the void and numbness with a soft light piercing through as her eyelids opened. The first thing Korra saw was the concerned face of Asami.

"Oh!...Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"...Seems so, though I don't quite remember falling asleep."

The heiress secretly sighed without the Avatar noticing, Korra had scared her for a second there. After returning to the garden and seeing her friend sitting still with her eyes shut, Asami thoughts had returned to that journalist's words. This had set an alarm off in her head about that ignorant death curse becoming true.

Of course it turned out the only one who stopped breathing was Asami herself when she rushed to check Korra pulse; she held her breath tight before hearing a light snore and a small shift on Korra's face. A huge relief washed over her before turning into a slight embarrassment for being so paranoid.

"So, how was the interview?"

"It was...fine..."Asami forces her smile to look convincing, "I just told them that you're getting better, and that's it."

"Really? The press just gave up and let you leave?"

"Whether they gave up or not I don't know, and I didn't care. I just walked away and tuned my ears out. Tenzin probably took care of them after that."

Korra chuckled before noticing that Naga was laid out beside her, the polar bear dog must have come to her after she fell asleep. Korra scratched Naga's head while Asami looked around, "by the way, where is that guard? Did he just leave you here alone?"

"I'm not sure..." The Avatar tried to recall the memory, "I was talking to him until I saw a butterfly, and then I completely forgot about him."

For some reason, Naga made a snarled sound in her throat while they talking about the mysterious guard. The polar bear dog had to admit, that one bite she took while she fought with that guy, tasted pretty good.

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* * *

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"Where is it?...Where is it?..."

On the beach beneath the high cliff, a young man whose clothing was torn apart had some wounds visible where the uniform couldn't cover. A few blood stains splashed on the white cloth but none of the injuries would be fatal, even if left untreated. He continued searching for something around the beach area, looking behind every rock with worry.

"Where is it?...Where is..._There you are!_"

Bilan pick his electric glove out of a tide pool near the cliff. The weapon had a huge bite mark across the palm, many parts had cracked when the Avatar's pet had tossed it away. It's actually a miracle that the glove didn't shatter to pieces considering how high it had fallen.

"Doesn't look...that bad. Just add some glue here and there, and you'll look as good as new..."

"You on the other hand, would require more than that."

Bilan almost jumped out of his skin, but when he turned around to see Ton-gla standing behind him, the Equalist sighed heavily in relief, "Don't sneak up on me like this! I almost had a heart attack!"

"Then I'll just use that glove to resuscitate you," The airbender darted his eyes all over Bilan, looking unimpressed and not the least surprised, "So...what went wrong?"

"A dog," The Equalist mutters.

Ton-gla managed stop his chuckle in time and asked back with a calm expression, "You lost to a dog?"

"A polar bear dog! The Avatar's pet! ..."

"Oh. Naga was it?"

"Whatever! It caught me off guard and almost ate me! The Avatar is more cunning than when I last encountered her..."

"So cunning that she made you and your friend chicken out by simply entering the Avatar state? She must have taken year to plan that ingenious move."

"Could you stop rubbing it in for a second!?" Bilan yelled angrily.

Ton-gla shook his head before place his hand on the Equalist's shoulder, "It's alright, Bilan. We learn from failure, not from success."

"I think I learned enough, success once in a while would be a pretty good change of pace," Bilan frowned. He had a moment of glory _literally_ in a palm of his hand, and he had lost it, again. "But you're right... I could learn from this failure. All I need is a pipe and a sleeping dart! Next time the Avatar wonn't know what hit her!..."

"I'm afraid that not going to happen. We have an agreement, remember?" Ton-gla's words suddenly made Bilan notice that his friend was now wearing an airbender uniform. He couldn't help but think that it was a far worse fashion choice than the White Lotus uniform, and that was making a statement. It made the wearer look like an upside down half peel banana, "So...you already..."

"Infiltrate their rank. Yes. I set my plan in motion while you were failing your assassination attempt."

"Oh! So you were so sure that I was going to fail!?"

"Your history record showed me everything but confidence in your success."

Bilan would have punched that mild face if he hadn't been afraid of getting blown back by a wind blast. Ton-gla hand him a small leather pocket with a first aid kit in it, "Here, ease your pain and bind your wound. You may have to lay low for a few hours before the next ferry comes to the island."

The airbender's first sentence sounded overly dramatic, but Bilan took comfort in it knowing that Ton-gla does show concern for his comrade's well being.

"So I only had one shot, and now I have to sit around and wait? Praying to the spirits that you two might be successful?"

"Yes, although..." Ton-gla glared back towards the city. Bilan followed his line of sight.

"Praying won't be necessary for the next attempt. **_She_** probably already has that covered."

"Right, but tell me, why do I need to listen to you? I'm the one who tracked the Avatar for the past year. If it wasn't for me, you and that spirit hippie wouldn't even have had the guts to begin this plan in the first place! Don't I deserve at least a second try?..."

Bilan's request was roughly cut short when the airbender spoke up, "While your information and...inspiration were appreciated, it was my order that was responsible for crippling the Avatar. Do not forget that."

**The Red Lotus** member glared harshly at the Equalist, as if challenging him to say otherwise.

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	5. Chapter 5 : Spiritual

I just got a job as an animator!...and now have to work from 9 AM. - 11 PM. Monday-Saturday.

So...yeah, that why I'm kinda delayed on this update. Sorry.

PS. I might have to change this fic Rating to M because of something that will happen in the next two chapters.  
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* * *

**.**  
**Chapter 5 : Spiritual**

Republic City had seen better days, and would stay in this state until the Avatar was recovered from her last battle. Even though her attempt failed in the past, no one else knew how to deal with these spirit vines that were growing all over the city.

Many buildings were abandoned, one of which was an old apartment, which now looked like it was half vine and half brick. The owner was long gone and would probably never return due to the vines corrupting deep into the building structure; it would certainly collapse to ruins if the vine disappeared.

Bilan walk into a room on the third floor, the least damage room in the entire building, which wasn't saying much since two thirds of the room was already taken over by vines and moss.

"How did the _'Equalization' _go?"

The mocking tone of the question made Bilan grit his teeth. He looked at the person who sat in the middle of the room, meditating in lotus position, with her eyes shut and her back turn to him.  
Bilan threw his White Lotus uniform...or what left of it, in the corner. The lack of an answer gave away what the girl wanted know.

"If it'll make you feel any better, I never thought for second that you would succeed. So your failure didn't disappoint me at all."

The thin young girl looked a lot younger than her actual age. Her pale skin contrasted with her clothing, a completely black robe from the neck to ankle with a big hood that was pulled down behind her neck.

"Big talk for someone who just sit around and do nothing all day, Gason," Bilan mumbled as he sat beside her.

She grin an unfriendly smile, "I'm meditating to channel my spirit energy. Which will be the end of Avatar Korra."

Gason took a deep breath, rooting herself in both her post and her mind, "I can feel it. As weak as a breeze against the mountain, my spirit energy is strong enough to kill the Avatar. I could rip her apart from within, and drown whatever is left of her soul in an endless oblivion."

Bilan rolled his eyes when the girl started to monologue, "Yeah, what are you going to do? Keep praying until the Avatar dies from a natural cause?"

"It'll be a waste of my time to try explaining to a stubborn head like you about spiritual connections. Just know that by the end of tomorrow night, I will have my revenge..." the girl stared blankly at the wall. For a moment she was lost in her thoughts and whispered with passionately, "**_The Dark Acolytes_** will finally have our revenge."

Her monologue speech was interrupted by Bilan's chuckle. If he was just throwing pointless insults around, she could have easily ignored him, but that stupid grin on his face troubled her.

"What so funny?"

"Nothing. Just..." Bilan denied, but immediately follow with his explanation, "_Dark Acolytes,_ really? Did someone already call dibs on _'The Menace Witch'_ or _'The Cult of Doom'_? Then again, I should have expected this level of creativity from a guy whose ultimate goal is to plunge the world into darkness."

A chuckle was too polite at this point, so Bilan just flat out laughed at the face of Gason, "I mean, how could he even get anyone to follow him on this? This is like something the bad guy in a children book or a fairy tale would do! What could you possibly gain from this plan anyway?"

"It's...spiritual..." the Dark Acolyte tried to form some explanation, but couldn't get it off the tip of her tongue because even she was having a hard time justify this cause. "Master Unalaq has something prepare for us. For the good of all people..."

"_Good_? He fused with an _embodiment of evil!_ Sorry if it sounds so judging, but there's not much room left for any interpretation."

Gason takes another deep breath, but Bilan ignores her and continues asking, "What did your group even doing, anyway? I'd never even heard about Dark Acolytes until we met you."

"We trained and served under Master Unalaq. He gathered men and women from around the world that had a strong connection with the spirits. We could have done many great things, if Eska and Desna had not disbanded our creed as soon as they took charge of the Northern Water Tribe after Unalaq's death."

The girl's word maybe calm, but Bilan knew she was trying very hard to keep her anger at bay. Gason noticed that her mind had filled with too much emotion to continue meditating, "if you don't mind, please leave me be. I wish to make sure I'm channeling enough spirit energy for tomorrow night."

"Need any help?"

"No."

"Come on, Ton-gla said we have to keep our agreement. That means I have to assist you on your mission, not that I want to."

"You can help me by staying quiet," Gason closed her eyes and went back to her meditation.

Bilan still protested but she ignored him, pretending that he doesn't exist and focusing away from his noise.

Bilan started to get bored, and had nothing to do except sit there and mumble to himself. He thought about his failed attempt to assassinate the Avatar only a few hours before, "...I think the Avatar has a thing for that girl..."

"What?" The Dark Acolyte suddenly opened her eyes and turned to her friend.

Bilan had forgotten that she was trying to not talk to him and answered like they were in a normal conversation, "That girl, Asami, Hiroshi Sato's daughter. I think she and the Avatar looked...too intimate to be just friends."

"What make you say that?"

"They kiss..." Gason narrowed her eyes when Bilan intentionally paused mid-sentence.

Finally, she asked, "On the lip?"

"On the eyelid."

"Big deal," the girl sighed, almost looking like she was disappointed.

"But...the way they talked to each other, looked at each other, touched each other..."

"Clarify_ 'touch each other'_?"

"Umm...the Avatar kind of...touched her cheek..."

"That's it? Two girls touch each other's cheek and you think...get your dirty mind out of the gutter, Bilan,"

Gosan punched Bilan's shoulder before go back to her meditation. For a second there she had thought this topic might be something worth listening to.

"But it is! I really felt a strange vibe between those two. You weren't there, you wouldn't know..."

"I'm going to be there tomorrow night. After I kill the Avatar, I'll tell you if that Asami girl kisses her corpse or something."

* * *

The next night on Air Temple Island is quiet and there's a calming wind. The silence only interrupted by moth-cricket and some cat-owl. The last ferry had just left the island's shore, not realizing that it had left an uninvited guest behind.

The black robe helped Gason blend in easily with the night. She swooped from shadow to shadow unnoticed. The Dark Acolyte wouldn't admit it, but the information about the White Lotus' guard patrol route on the island, that Bilan gave her, really helped her to easily sneak from the shore to the temple. Maybe their agreement hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

Checking the map Bilan drew for her one last time, Gason saw that she didn't have to go inside the building or actually confront her target. She just had to be nearby, so she didn't use the hallway and instead ran across the courtyard and the garden. She went directly to the Avatar's room from the outside. The Dark Acolyte glanced through the window to make sure it was her, and saw Korra sleeping peacefully on her bed. No one was coming in or even coming close to her room; they probably wanted to give her the utmost privacy so she could rest.

Gason found a corner near the window that wasn't too exposed, sat down in lotus position, and began channeling her spirit energy. The night breeze and the dim moon light really helped set the tone for her mission.

She was going to use a special technique that only Dark Acolytes knew how to perform. A ritual that went along with the concept of her creed; to utilize the power of darkness in preparation for the dark age that would now...never come, thanks to the Avatar. The idea of the power is to use spirit energy to interfere with the minds of others while they're asleep or unconscious.

The power to corrupt a dream.

The power to create a _nightmare_.

Gason knew Bilan would laugh if she told him what she intended to do, but that's also why she thought it would be a waste of her time to try to explain to him how a nightmare could actually kill people.

For normal people, save those who have a strong connection to the spirits, a nightmare could be just a phantom in the night. It would be an unpleasant dream that may annoy or keep you awake; frustrating, horrify, but still _awakening_ in the end.

That's where the difference was, a nightmare that is created by this ritual _would leave the person unable to awaken._

Gason close her eyes, dipping her mind into a place between the physical world and the spirit world. She was in a limbo, between life and death.

Finally, she detected the spirit of the Avatar, which used to bond with hundreds if not thousands of other spirits from of her past lives. However, the work of Unalaq and Vaatu during Harmonic Convergence had destroyed all connections. Korra's spirit was now all alone, and with the work of the Red Lotus who had almost killed her, she was..._fragile_. Korra's spirit felt like a bright star that had been reduced to a candle flame.

Gason used her energy to grab the Avatar's spirit...and pulled it down into the dark abyss; grinning while maintaining her focus.

_Let us see how deep the Avatar could fall._  
_._


	6. Chapter 6 : One Bad Dream

**Next chapter is will be rated M, I'll let you guess why.**  
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* * *

**Chapter 6 : One Bad Dream**

The time she was confronted by Tahno, before the pro-bending championship.

_...Deeper..._

The time she broke up with Mako after the Harmonic Convergence.

_...Deeper... _

The time she met Lin when she first arrived in the Republic City.

_...Deeper..._

The time when President Raiko...

_...Deeper..._

The time when she confronted the earth queen...

_...Deeper..._

The Dai Li...

_...Deeper..._

Her encounter with Amon at the statue of Aang...

_...Deeper..._

Her father's trial at the south pole...

_...Deeper..._

Amon taking her bending...

_...Deeper..._

Ravva getting ripped out of her...

_...She actually wanted to stop here so her former master could take some credit in this mission, but it looked like the Avatar could still sink a little deeper..._

She found herself at the mercy of those Red Lotus...

_...Deeper..._

They poisoned her...

_...Deeper..._

The struggling to get free...

_...Deeper..._

The moment Zaheer used asphyxiation through airbending, and the glimpse of life fading away from her.

_..._

_..._

_..._

_...How?..._

In the physical world, Gason's face frowned with question.

_This is the freshest memory of the Avatar, the fight that came closest to actually killing her. Even without this ritual Gason was confident that the Avatar must have nightmares about this every once in a while. This was supposed to be the **worst** of what could haunt her dreams._

**_So why can her spirit still sink deeper?_**

_It looked like the weak state of the Avatar would help Gason uncover the fears that she was burying deep inside her soul. The fears that even the Avatar herself didn't know she had._

The Dark Acolyte's frown slowly changed to a smile with excitement.

_This is going to be fun._

And with that thought, Gason pulls Korra to the deepest corner of her soul, where the most terrifying of her fears lay...

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* * *

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Korra woke up, feeling like she'd had a nightmare that she couldn't recall.

It's not a new thing, though, her nightmares used to be worse during the first week after her fight with Zaheer, she got better afterward, but sometimes she'd still have a nightmare that would awaken her in the middle of the night.

Bright light shone through a crack on her window; it seems she might have overslept past the morning. The door slid open and the familiar face...with an unfamiliar expression walked in.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

"Good morni...umm. What time is this?"

"Past noon"

"Wow, I overslept that long? Sorry, Asami," Korra tried to chuckle, but suddenly noticed something different. Asami stared at her with an irritated look on her face; as though she just had a fight with somebody before coming into the room.

"...I must've been really tired..."

"From sitting around and do nothing all day? Yeah, poor you," Asami spoke with a frustrating tone.

She ignored the surprised look on Korra's face and dragged her wheelchair to the bedside.

"You have a healing session in one hour. Get up," the heiress' words were cold and distant. Her eyes filled with discomfort and annoyance.

Korra was about to lift herself up, but suddenly it felt like her entire body was heavy, like stone. She tries to move her arm to lift the blanket off, and the exertion almost made her pant with exhaustion.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I think I'm really tired..." Korra said, worrying that this might be the poison's effect recurring again. She noticed Asami was just standing there, staring at her as she struggled to get out of bed.

"C..Could you...give me a hand?" the Avatar asked with a small, frightened tone. Asami sighed with her eyes rolling the other way, as though she didn't want to look at Korra, but she still knelt down on the bed and began to carry the Avatar to the wheelchair.

Asami's touch was harsh, rough, and perfunctory, giving Korra a strangely negative feeling. The heiress didn't even look her in the eyes when she lifted her up, the roughness almost hurting her physically. Korra wanted to protest but decided to endure it and simply asked her friend with concern, "Asami. Is...everything ok?"

"Fine, why did you ask?"

"Well... You seem a little bit...harsh. I'm worried that you..."

"What!? Worried that I didn't treat you as nobly as you think you deserve!? That's it!" Asami yelled with anger before dropping Korra back to the edge of the bed, almost causing her to fall to the floor.

The Avatar looked up to her friend with confused eyes, "Asami. What's wrong...?"

"You! Korra! You're what's wrong. In fact, right now everything is okay, _except you!_"

Asami pushed the wheelchair out of her way, likely saying that she's not going to wheel Korra anywhere anytime soon.

"I have had enough of you! Korra, it's been almost a month now since I've been stuck taking care of you. You sit all day, you do nothing, and all the while you just sleep and complain! It's driving me crazy!"

"But I...I..." Korra didn't know how to answer, normally she would have yelled back at Asami for all the nonsensical accusations. Why on earth did Asami expect a crippled patient to do anything but sit?

The Avatar wasn't in the best state, all physical injuries aside; she's currently too confused and scared to think straight, "I'm...sorry..."

Unjustified apologies did not calm Asami down, somehow it seemed to make her even more furious.

"_Sorry?_ Is that it? For all the time and energy I wasted on you, the best I get is 'sorry'?"

"I..I... Then what would you have me do?..."

"Nothing! That is the point, Korra. You can't do anything! _You're useless!_"

Like a sharp stick pinned to her heart, the venomous words were almost as painful as the real poison.

Korra didn't understand...Yes, admittedly she worried about her recovery from time to time, the process was stable but slow. It was still a long way off before she could walk, and not being able to take care of herself, even on a daily basis, did make Korra feel useless sometimes.

However, Asami is always there, to help her, give her moral support, and tell her that everything is going to be alright. She promised that no matter how long it will take or how difficult it will be for Korra to recover, she would be there beside her, always...all the way.

_Then why...?_

"Oh? Are you going to cry now?"

Korra was still lost in thought, but she lifted her finger to touch the corner of her eye, tears had started to flow down.

Asami chuckled meanly in her throat and shook her head like a parent disappointed in their child, before heading for the door.

"You know what? I'm done with you. I have my company to run, my life to live. Everybody else already moved on from you. I can only blame myself for being the only one stupid enough to stay with a crippled Avatar..."

The heiress slid the door open, but before she could walk out, Korra use all of strength to leap over and catch Asasmi's wrist, "W...Wait! Asami...I..."

"Don't touch me!" Asami jerked her hand away violently, the mere force causing Korra to fall. The Avatar's body hit the floor hard and she let out a groan of pain. Asami wiped her wrist on her jacket, as though she had been touched by something disgusting.

"You think just because you're the Avatar, that you could take advantage of me?"

"I...never..."

"Oh, please! You think I didn't notice? That weird perverted stare you gave me, the gross touch on my face. Ugh! I'm not into that kind of stuff, Korra, and I know neither are you. You just feel so lonely that you'll take anything you can get! Mako got lucky that he dumped you before things went downhill."

Korra tried to hold in her tears, both from the pain and the cruel words. She was still so confused...what happened to Asami? Is this really what she thought the whole time that she was taking care of her?...

"I used to believe what Katara said, but now I know she just didn't want to hurt your feelings...at the time. Just look at you right now, is this the picture of someone who would get up and walk again anytime soon?"

"But I'll get better..."

"I still have to feed you, Korra! This is what you actually look like without my help, lying on a floor, moping! I'll tell Tenzin to get someone else to take care of you, good bye."

"Wait... A...Asami... Asami!..."

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* * *

.

"Asami...please...don't go...Asami..."

Korra mumbled in her sleep. She squirmed under her blanket, her voice too low to wake anyone. Like a wounded cub desperately crying for help in the bottom of valley.

Gason glanced through the window again to see the Avatar whispering in her dream. The Dark Acolyte was mixed with emotion, mostly surprise.

"Unbelievable..."

With all the grand battles, terrifying opponents, and the near death experience; _this _is her worse nightmare!?

Gason felt conflicted within herself, she had hoped that the Avatar was going to die by dreams of dark spirits consuming her, or the pain of getting tortured by those Red Lotus, or even the horror of her bending being take away by that Amon guy. Anything would have been more spectacular than this! This isn't even a memory! It just her imagination of what she's afraid would happen, and the _worst_ is just one friend leaving her? Is she a five year-old or something!?

When Gason saw Korra's face, she noticed that the Avatar had begun sweating, her breath ragged, her voice getting lower by the second; and almost sounding like she choking on her own words.

_Korra is dying._

"Well... Whatever it takes to get a job done," the Dark Acolyte smiled. The Avatar's mind began to crack, it only needed one snap to shatter her spirit for good. Gason sat back down to continue meditating, noticing that she had an...uninvited guest of her own.

A blue dragonfly bunny spirit stared at her from over the roof. It looked at the girl with curiosity, but Gason frowned at Bum-Ju with annoyance. She may have a strong connection to the spirit world, but she had no love for the spirits themselves, especially those that look cute and silly.

"Go away!" the Dark Acolyte whispered and waved her hand, sending negative energy at Bum-Ju. The dragonfly bunny shuddered with fright before flying away, leaving Gason to continue her meditation.

Korra was already at the edge of her struggle, her limbs shaking but barely moving. Her breathing was as shallow as her voice. Gason may have thought the Avatar's nightmare was stupid, but the pain was working nonetheless.

She dipped her spirit back into limbo to make sure the Avatar's spirit was still at the bottom of the darkness. Gason was confident in her ritual, but she did not want to take any chances.

_...She would continue to drown Korra in her nightmare till the final breath..._

The door inside the room slid open, and Asami, in her nightgown, walked into the room with a worried expression.

"Korra?"

_...Damn it!..._

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**Every review is appreciated, hope you enjoyed.**


	7. Chapter 7 : Drown

**Thai Word**

**Gason**_**(ga-son) **_**: mean 'Pollen'**

**Ton-gla**_**(ton-gla) **_**: mean 'Young plant'**

**.**

* * *

**.**

**Chapter 7 : Drown**

All Korra's feelings started to go numb, and not in the relaxing way. A numbness of being consumed by the darkness, and feeling her soul fading away to nothingness, calm...but not peace.

Korra's nightmare no longer formed any image or accurate event. She just stared blankly into the endless void, the thought of being abandoned crept into her mind like maggots.

_...She hates you...She's sick of you...You're no longer needed..._

_"Korra?..."_

There were two sources of sound to be heard...

_...She disgust you...She denied you..._

_"Korra. Are you alright?..."_

One is close and attempting to drown her in her misery, the other is distant...but filled with passion and concern.

_...She doesn't love you anymore..._

_"Korra! Wake up! Korra!..."_

_._

* * *

_._

"Korra! Korra! Can you hear me!?" Asami ask in a panic, shaking the Avatar's upper body. Korra's eyes remained tightly shut, and she mumbled unconsciously, "...Don't leave me...please don't leave me...Asami..."

"Korra! I'm right here! Wake up! It's...just a dream!" The heiress tried desperately.

Something told her this wasn't a normal nightmare. Korra had had nightmares before, many times in fact, but every time she'd either wake up by herself or Asami would come wake her and comfort her back to sleep.

No matter how hard she tried, Asami couldn't wake Korra up this time. She thought about going to wake Tenzin or somebody to help, but she couldn't muster the courage to leave Korra's side for second. The Avatar cried for Asami in her sleep. Whatever nightmare Korra having, it involved her somehow.

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* * *

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_...Drown...Drown...Drown damn it!..._

Gason grit her teeth while continuing to meditate. A moment ago the Avatar's spirit was already one foot in the grave, but now it had stopped sinking! Halfway to death, and yet somehow still clinging to life. The Dark Acolyte used all of her spirit energy to press the Avatar into oblivion, but the fragile spirit had become unmovable. It resisted her and tried to rise back up, but how?

_...Is it because of her? That Sato girl?...The source of the Avatar's nightmare having intervened in the illusion create by the ritual...making her spirit aware that what tormented her wasn't real..._

_...This would never happen if the nightmare was about an event, a former enemy, or something that a confusing mind made up, but because it was about a friend abandoning her...and that friend now knelt beside her bed trying to comfort her in the middle of the night...That is the opposite of everything her nightmare created!..._

"No...no...I won't allow this..." Gason whispered while meditating, she was beginning to perspire.

_...I am so close...I've come too far...and invested too much to fail...I almost have my revenge..._

**_...SPIRIT BE DAMN!...I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE POWER OF LOVE!..._**

When her anger was at its peak, Gason almost let out a groan. She suddenly felt something touch her shoulder.

The Dark acolyte opened her eye, a familiar sight of a blue dragonfly bunny spirit appeared in front of her, except this time it didn't come alone.

Around fifteen to twenty dragonfly bunny spirits were now floating around Gason. Every one of them looked hostile toward her, especially Bum-Ju. The touch on her shoulder was an orange one that grabbed onto her robe and tried to lift her up.

As if on signal, every dragonfly bunny spirit glided down and a grabbed a part of her body; carrying Gason up in the air like a swarm of lizard-crows catching their prey. The girl was about to scream but Bum-Ju hugged onto her face, muffling her voice.

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* * *

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"Strange..."

"What?" Kai, who was about to fall asleep, suddenly shook his head up and asked Jinora. The two of them were in the library of the temple. Jinora was reading some of the airbending scrolls to prepare for what she would teach in her class tomorrow. Kai had wanted to keep her company and was sitting across from her on the table, trying not to fall asleep. It was harder to keep awake than he had previously thought.

" I thought I sensed something kind of..._disturbing_ in the spirits. Almost like someone trying to perform a taboo ritual..."

There's not much confidence in her words since, aside from Unaloq and Vaatu, she didn't actually have any real experience confronting another dark spirit user before.

"...But now it suddenly disappeared..."

"Maybe you're just tired... It's pretty late..." Kai answered while trying not to yawn, dropping his head on the table. Jinora contemplated for a moment before shrugging it off her mind and continued reading her scroll. Neither of them noticed the swarm of dragonfly bunny spirits that flew past the window with a girl, struggling for her life, carried inside.

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Korra felt the darkness around her crumble, finally allowing her to dig herself back up to the surface. Korra gasped for a huge chunk of air as she opened her eyes.

"Korra!"

The Avatar turned her head to the one calling her name. Asami stared at her face with damp eyes and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn't know why but she was grateful that the Avatar was finally awake.

"It's ok. Korra. You're safe now. It was just a dream." Asami cooed as she stroked Korra's back.

Normally this would calm her down after having a nightmare, but the heiress still felt Korra shaking. She loosened her hug to meet the Avatar's face.

Usually when Korra had a nightmare she would stare blankly in the distance, not focusing on anything or anyone since the cause of terror was the shadow of her own imagination.

But this time she locked her gaze with Asami, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Please...don't leave me..."

Korra whispered. Asami frowned with inquiry but remembered that this was what the Avatar whimpered in her sleep.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry that I have become your burden!, but please..." Korra raise her hand to touch Asami's cheek, but stop halfway when she remember...

_...the gross touching of my face. Ugh!..._

The Avatar pulled her hand back with a frightened look, making Asami even more confused.

"I...I won't do that again! Please...please forgive me!..."

"Korra? What are you talking about?..."

Korra hesitated for a moment before touching Asami's arm lightly; hoping the heiress wouldn't mind the contact since there was still the cloth of her nightgown between her skin and Korra's hand. She was oblivious to the fact that Asami herself was holding Korra in her arms.

"I'll get better! I can get better! I promise... Just... just give me time..."

"Korra. We all know you'll get better. You ARE getting better. Why did you?..."

"No!...I swear! I swear I can do it! Asami. Please believe me..."

"Korra!" Asami unintentionally raised her voice to interrupt Korra. The Avatar stopped, but her face was now covered with complete horror.

"Oh no...I...ah...screwed...up...no...I...I...angered...you...A...sa...a...m...m..."

Her words barely formed a sentence as Korra looked like she about to lose her sanity. This was worse than what Asami expected. Knowing that any talk wouldn't be able to help at this point, she decided to take action.

Asami place a soft kiss on Korra's forehead, her thumb wiping away the Avatar's tears. The kind and gentle touch finally restored Korra's grip on reality. Asami looked back into the blue eyes, a trace of horror still present, but at least she got Korra's attention.

The heiress tried to piece together what Korra said in her nightmare and while she was panicking, until she could came up with comforting words to say to calm the fear that she didn't fully understand yet.

"I will never leave you. Korra." she said firmly as she grabbed Korra's hand and place it on her own cheek. "You were never a burden to me. I didn't do this because I have to, Korra. I do this because I want to. I want to take care of you. I'm happy to be by your side."

...

...

...

There was a moment of silence as Asami watched Korra moving her mouth like she was going to say something, but couldn't muster her words properly.

The heiress waited patiently until Korra finally spoke "You said you're sick of me..."

Asami assumed that this was what Korra had heard in her nightmare. There was no point trying to explain anything to a confused mind, so Asami simply answered with a straight face and steady voice "That's not true."

"You said I'm useless..."

"I would never say that, and I'll kill anyone who does."

"You said you're done with me..."

"I would die before I give up on you."

"You said I would never be able to walk again."

"I _know _you will walk again."

"You said...you hated me touching you..."

This one actually caught Asami by surprise, so she didn't answer immediately; needing a moment to process what that actually meant. She recalled that look on the guard's face in the flower garden when he saw Korra hold her cheek and she had kissed Korra's eyelid.

It was true that in the eyes of outsiders, her intimacy with Korra may look...suspicious. She had only done that to comfort the Avatar, and prevent her from feeling lonely or abandoned. Due to her illness affecting her senses, close contact is necessary.

_...or at least that's what Asami wanted to think..._

The fact that she enjoyed her intimacy with Korra more than she should does make her slightly ashamed, like she's taking advantage of the situation...

"You said...that I disgusted you..." Korra continued, feebly.

"Oh...Korra..."

The word 'disgust' made Asami's heart sink. What kind of sick twisted curse had caused Korra to have this nightmare?

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"**Ake our ink-ing aw off e, ou amnd eirey abb-eit!** (_Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty rabbit!_)"

Gason scream through Bum-Ju's pelt. She couldn't see anything except this storm of colorful fur around her. It left her feeling like she was stuck inside a spiral rainbow.

She continued to struggle, and finally the spirit let her go. All the dragonfly bunny spirits scattered in mid-air and flew back to the island...

The Dark Acolyte didn't even have time to notice where she was, when she splashed into the cold water of the night that was too deep for her to stand. She was in the ocean, far away from both Air Temple Island and the city shore.

Gason panicked and struggled against the water; she couldn't swim.

There was no last word when the girl choked on the salt water as she drifted beneath the cold abyss. Her lungs suffered from the lack of oxygen while her thoughts started to wander through the final moments of her life.

_...What the hell?...So in the end...I'm the one who drowned?..._

Her eyes glared at the surface above, witnessing the last light of the moon that shone through the water, before everything faded to darkness.

**_...Damn you...karma..._**

Gason lost consciousness, and presumably her life too, if not for one arm that reached down and grabbed her robe before pulling her out of the water.

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Asami pulled Korra back to a tight hug, their skin touching. The heiress had to concentrate to keep her mind away from any salacious thoughts. She only did this to comfort Korra

"Would I do this if I was disgusted with you?"

"...N...no..." The Avatar whispered shakily. Korra wasn't sure if she should sob with relief or laugh with joy. She was almost fully aware now that what happened was really just a nightmare...

..._almost..._

The weight in the Avatar's heart was lift away, and replaced by exhaustion. Asami felt Korra's body start to relax and knew that she ready to go back to sleep. The half-closed eyes of the Avatar were clear evidence.

"You...want me stay with you tonight?" Asami asked. Even though things had settled, she worried that Korra's nightmare might return. This seemed to be the most intense nightmare Korra had ever had, so Asami thought she should take precautions.

"W...Will you?..."

"Of course, though your bed may be too small for two of us..." _Lie._ Asami knew that Korra's bed was big enough, but her conscience told her to keep some distance...whatever it was for. "Let me just go grab my pillow and blanket so I could sleep on the floor..."

In a blur line of Korra's consciousness, she wanted to do the exact opposite of what Asami told herself. If she could form some logical statement for her action, it would be...

_...I want some final proof that she doesn't hate me..._

Korra didn't even know how she could muster such strength to tighten her hug when she felt Asami about to leave. The Avatar pulled the heiress' head quickly but softly to her own and before Asami could react...

**...their lips are already found each other.**

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**Turned out I misunderstood the rating system a little bit. And just same sex kissing is still considered _T_ rate.**

**...but we'll still possibly hit the _M_ rating for what I plan in the future chapter...and not for violence.**


	8. Chapter 8 : Morning

**This chapter is kinda short, but I may or may not get really busy for the next week. So I'll give my reader something to have a closure from the event of the last chapter.**

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**Chapter 8 : Morning**

Gason felt the air float inside her lungs, causing her to wake up and cough the sea water out of her nose and mouth. The Dark Acolyte sat up to find herself on the beach beneath a high cliff; same place that Bilan came to look for his glove.

"Are you alright?" Ton-gla asked gently, in his palm he held a small whirlwind that he had used to resuscitate her by forcing it in her mouth.

"I'm...fine..." Gason panted, trying to act tough, but she couldn't hide her appreciation for Ton-gla saving her life.

"You...were watching me?"

"Of course. I was keeping an eye on you, waiting for anything to go wrong."

"You mean..._in case_ anything went wrong? ..."

"No. You're a failure, same as Bilan, it was in my extrapolation."

The Dark Acolyte felt her blood rushing up her face. Ton-gla had a gentle, friendly expression that looked like he wasn't aware that he had given an insult.

"But I almost had it! I almost kill..."

"There is no need to feel offended. Gason. The Avatar is not an easy prey," the Airbender placed his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were too calm for his own liking. Gason knew his words were sincere but it still sounded so obnoxious.

"I'll give you a lift back to the apartment; rest for the night. We three will discuss our plan further in the morning."

Ton-gla turned his staff into a glider before lifting the girl in his arm and flying back to the city.

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Asami woke up in the morning to the sound of bird from outside. She was about to lift herself up but felt some restraint holding her down; the memory of the prior night flashed in her head as she looked to her side.

Korra was still asleep, her arm wrapped across Asami's waist and chest. Even in the fresh morning, the Avatar still look really tired, but a small grin in the corner of Korra's mouth showed that she didn't have any more nightmares for the remainder of the night; she had gotten some peaceful sleep for once.

Then the other..._event_...came to Asami's mind; a memory of an unexpected kiss from the Avatar. The heiress touched her own lip softly as if to relive the sensation from the night.

_...so...what now?..._

Immediately after Korra had kissed her, the Avatar fell asleep in her arms and left her to face the confusing sensation alone.

_...Is it just an accident?..._

Asami reminded herself that Korra had held her head and placed the kiss directly on her mouth; it must have been intentional.

_...Is it just a mixed message? Maybe Korra meant that to be like...a good night kiss or something..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_...She used her tongue..._

Asami flushed when she thought about this part. It wasn't just a quick touch on the lip, they had held onto each other for a moment, and in that time, Asami swore that Korra's tongue tried to push through her lip...and she allowed it! Fortunately (or unfortunately) Korra passed out before things could go any further; however it confirmed that this was a passionate kiss.

_...Maybe she's just scared and confused...She just tried to seek some intimacy for comfort...just in that moment..._

Finally, something Asami couldn't argue immediately. Korra wasn't fully conscious at the time because of the nightmare, and Asami just happened to be the closest thing she could hold on to.

"Don't get your hope up, girl," Asami spoke to herself, her finger traced down Korra's hairline to her collarbone, but stopped when she realized what she was doing. "I'll never take advantage of her."

She wiped her mind clean off any dirty thoughts. What kind of friend would she be if she tried to seduce Korra while she's vulnerable? That's something Mako would do..._wait...why did I compare myself to him?..._

"Umm..." Korra whimpered in her sleep and moved closer to Asami, seeking warmth.

The heiress smiled and tightened her hug. There's no hurry to wake her up, the Avatar deserved to rest as much as she wanted. That is, until the door slid open to Pema, who was about to walk in. She was taken by surprise to see Asami on the same bed with Korra,...cuddling,

"Asami? I didn't know you were here?..."

The heiress quickly gestured her hand, telling Pema to keep her voice down so as not to wake Korra up. She nodded and asked again with the voice barely louder than whisper, "Did something happen? Why are you and Korra..."

Asami smiled calmly, it's a good thing that she already made up her mind before Pema came in, otherwise she would have had an awkward moment trying to explain the situation to her.

"It's nothing. Pema. Korra just..."

_"A..Asami..." _Korra's whimper interrupted Asami's explanation, _"...Hold me tight Asami... Please hold me..."_

The calmness begin to decay slightly. Asami saw Pema's cheeks start to flush, so she hastily tried to explain again, "It's not what it looks like! You see...she had a nightmare..."

**_"Kiss me. Asami."_**

The heiress swallowed her words, Pema's face was completely flush.

_"A...Asami... I want you... hold me and kiss me again please... Asami... Kiss me..."_

There are two sounds echoing in Asami's mind, one is crying out in horror and the other one is screaming with pure joy. All of the dirty thoughts she wiped clear are now floating back in place, and no amount of self conscience could cause her doubt this time.

"Well...I just came here to tell Korra that breakfast is ready, but...I think I could save some of them for you two to eat later," Pema spoke with an embarrassed smile on her face.

Asami tried to protest but she couldn't muster a sound, not when her mind was still dazed from what she heard Korra mumble in her sleep. Pema retreated from the room and slid the door close. She tried to hold her giggling as she walked away.

"Ah...to be young again."

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**Reviews are always appreciated.**


	9. Chapter 9 : Regret

**Good news. **

**One of the friends on this website offered to do a grammar check for my fic, as some of you may have noticed. I already re-uploaded every chapter with a version that has less (hopefully none) grammar errors. All thanks to this generous friend, you no longer have to suffer with my poor writing (at least on the grammar, story depends on opinions, which is what the review segments are for...).**

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**Chapter 9: Regret**

Bilan had just finished his morning practice of chi-blocking and martial arts on the rooftop. There were some spirits gathered around the giant vines to watch his exercise routine, but he ignored them. For someone who had neither a strong connection with the spirits, nor interest in any supernaturalstuff. Most of the time he couldn't even tell if those were spirits or just local radioactive glowing wildlife.

The Equalist was about to go back into the building when he noticed an air glider flying from the island directly to the apartment. Ton-gla switched his glider back to staff in mid-air before doing a flip and dropping to the ground on his feet smoothly.

"Show off..." Bilan mumbled, he didn't get why the guy couldn't just landed normally.

"Good morning Bilan."

"Morning to you too, so I assumed that last night didn't go so well, did it?" Bilan put no effort in hiding the grin on his face. He had already gone to bed last night when he heard that Gason had come back, and the fact that she didn't burst into his room to rub her victory in his face could only mean one thing.

"Do not take pleasure in the failure of a comrade, my friend. For that is what breaks the unity among allies," Ton-gla lectured Bilan before walking to the stairs.

The Equalist roll his eye and follow him, mocking, "I guess _'Don't be mean to your friend'_ is too mainstream to say."

They soon reached their room, and the first thing Ton-gla notices when he opens the door is the smell of miso soup; which was boiling in a pot at the side of the room. Bilan walked past him to open the pot and nodded to himself.

"Breakfast almost ready, will you join us?"

"I already ate."

The Equalist shrugged before scooping one cup of rice for himself; he then noticed the Red Lotus pick up another cup and hand it to him.

Ton-gla gave an answer before Bilan could even ask, "What? I didn't say no."

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Feeling refreshed from a peaceful sleep almost felt alien to Korra. She may be able to nap during the daytime, but she hardly ever got a full sleep at night. It was common for her nightmares, physical pain, or sometimes just loneliness to cause her mind to wander restlessly.

The Avatar slowly open her eyes, last night being the first in a long time that she was finally able to get a full and comfortable sleep, for whatever reason...

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Korra felt like she had gotten splashed by freezing water, her ears echoed the sound while her mind recalled the memory of a similar...almost identical sentence.

_"Oh, you're finally awake." Asami grunted at her with words full of hate and disgust._

Before her cheerful mind could collapse from the leftover traces of the nightmare, a soft and warm feeling of something in Korra's arm reminded her that she wasn't alone in her bed. The Avatar looked up to the girl beside her, Asami smiled back at Korra, and their close position made Korra realize that she holding the heiress in her arms.

"Good morning," Asami said gently. Korra slowly recalled the _better _part of the memory from last night; when her friend woke her from the nightmare, hugged her, comforted her, and offered to stay at night...

"M...Morning," the Avatar responded with an awkward smile, still a little confused as to what happened after that. Slowly, she loosened her tight grip to let Asami out of her hug.

"So...I guess my bed is big enough for both of us after all."

"Seems so," Asami chuckled while getting off the bed to go to the bathroom. For the moment that Korra is alone in her room, she tries to recall the last part of her memory after Asami offered to stay with her for the night.

...

...

"Oh Spirits..." The Avatar's eyes widened as she recalled something, "I _had a dream _that I kissed Asami!"

Korra's face turn slightly red with embarrassment and shame from what her mind had made up. The nightmare may not have been real, but the accusation she got during it was somewhat accurate. She _does _have feelings for Asami.

The bedroom door opened as Asami returned from washing her face; immediately noticing the unusual expression Korra had.

"Are you all right? Korra."

"Wha... Yes!...I'm...I'm fine," even the Avatar herself knew that her voice didn't sound convincing, so she proceeded to find some excuse, "Just thinking about last night. I...ah..."

At first she about to say 'nightmare', but her expression already gave away that she wasn't thinking about something horrific, so she decided to tell half of the truth.

"Af...After you _slept with me_...I mean slept beside me! I...kind of had this weird, funny dream."

"Oh? Then I guess we can call that an improvement from the nightmare, can't we?"

Korra forced herself to chuckle at Asami's words; at least she bought her half excuse. The heiress didn't press and simply helped Korra get in the wheelchair so she could roll her to the bathroom.

Korra sensed the soft and careful touch, the small smile on Asami's face, and the gentleness that the heiress' held. It was so different from what she experienced in her nightmare. Korra unintentionally closed her eyes to savor the moment; she knew she liked the way Asami was taking care of her, but only just realized that she might actually be addicted to this feeling.

"So...what did you dream about? If you don't mind telling me, that is," Asami asked casually, trying to engage in some conversation while slowly putting Korra in her wheelchair.

"Nothing much actually, just that I kissed you and..." Korra eyes shot open and she covered her mouth after realizing what she had just said.

To her surprise, Asami just chuckled friendlily, "So that is what you mumbling in your sleep."

"I...I did...?"

The heiress nodded, her calm expression made Korra think that maybe Asami simply didn't take this kind of dream too seriously, which left her relieved knowing that she wouldn't be accused of trying to take advantage of her friend, like what had happened in the nightmare.

"B...Boy, my head is really screwed up lately, isn't it? I mean kissing? Like...Like we would ever do something like that. Silly me..." Korra's awkward attempt to joke made Asami realize that she may not be talking about what she had whimpered when Pema came in, but the actual kiss before she passed out instead...

_...So she didn't quite remember what happened and...she seems to have a hard time talking about it..._

Asami thoughts wandered after Korra settled on her wheelchair.

_...Should I...not tell her? What if her kiss really was an accident? Would it be better if I just forgot all of this and pretend that it never happened? I could always tell Pema that what she heard is just a misunderstanding..._

...

...

...

_...Oh for Aang's sake. She didn't dream about kissing me. No, from what I heard, it's possible that she might have actually dreamed about making out, or __**making love**__ with me! I'm being cautious, but not denying it..._

Asami's logic finally beat her pretentious side of emotion, and knelt down beside Korra's wheelchair. She took one deep breath before starting to talk; she was not going to drag this on, things will be settled between her and Korra one way or the other...it also went without saying that she did favor one way over another.

"Korra about last night..."

The Avatar frowned with curiosity when Asami seemed to have trouble looking her in the eyes.

"...Not...everything you thought, was a dream..." Asami grit her teeth, speaking about this was actually harder than she thought.

"Wha...What do you mean...?" Korra felt an alarm going off in her head.

"We...actually..._kissed_...before you passed out."

_...Well, technically you kissed me, but I don't want to sound too rejected..._

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Korra slowly bought her hand to cover her mouth. She inhaled rapidly, her eyes wide with horror.

"Oh Spirit. I'm...I'm the worst!..." the Avatar whispered, looking at Asami with eyes that plead for forgiveness. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Asami! How could I do something like this? I...I'm...such a...such a..."

"Do you regret it then?" the heiress asked calmly, almost taking Korra by surprise with the fact that she sound...disappointed?

"Do you regret...kissing me? Korra," Asami asked again.

"I...ah..." Korra fumbled in seeking the right words, "I...I had no right to do that... You offered your...generosity, and I was wrong to take advantage of that..."

"You didn't answer my question."

Korra started to feel a chill going down her spine, Asami's voice went from calm to intimidating when she repeated her question.

"Do you regret kissing me?"

...

...

...

"I don't want...to regret it."

Even though _'Yes'_ would be the more appropriate answer if she wished to apologize; for some reason Korra felt like she can't lie when she lock eyes with Asami. She had to switch her gaze to the floor before continuing to speak.

"I know I should, but I...I can't. I'm sorry, Asami. I..."

This time it's Korra who get cut short.  
The heiress lifts the Avatar's chin up a little before placing her kiss on the girl's lips, Korra only took a few seconds to settle down her surprise and give a return kiss to Asami.

The kiss is less passionate than the night before, but there are feelings with more emotion, determination, and also less confusion on both sides. Both girls part when they have to gasp for air, both blushing slightly but still looking focused on each other's eyes.

"Then I do not regret this kiss either, fair enough?" Asami asked with a gentle grin, and Korra finally gave her a genuine smile for the first time in that morning.

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The voice of Bilan laughing from the living room wake Gason up from her uncomfortable sleep, and she sat up with bags under her eyes. The girl barely had any sleep late last night because she kept having _nightmares_ about drowning in the ocean, or get attacked by a pack of bloodthirsty dragonfly bunnies.

_...Karma is a bitch... _the Dark Acolyte thought to herself before getting off the bed. She opened the door from her private room to see Bilan and Ton-gla sitting at the table on the floor, having breakfast. Bilan turned to mock Gason immediately when she walked out of her room.

"Sleep well, Miss Acolyte? Any bad dreams about a bunny?" the Equalist asked with a massive grin on his face. She looked at Ton-gla, who calmly sipped his miso soup like nothing happened, but she knew that he must have said something to Bilan about what happened to her last night.

"You know, I think you did something a little bit backward, see...when you said you were going to _'drown whatever is left of her soul into an endless oblivion' _you didn't have to try it on yourself first. Especially if you can't swim..."

Bilan cut himself off, unable to hold his laugh in any longer. The Equalist buried his face on the table and repeatedly slammed his fist in an uncontrollable manner; causing some of his miso soup to splash out of its cup, while Gason felt both shame and anger rushing up her face. She grit her teeth and felt a snarl in her throat.

"Oh..._/chuckle/_...and..._/chuckle/_...and I thought me losing to a polar bear dog was embarrassment. But you lose to a bunny..."

_**"Your leader was a waterbender!"**_

Gason screamed her lungs out before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door closed. Ton-gla frowned with question about the Dark Acolyte's words, until he turned to see Bilan's face that looked like he was shock and trying to hold his tears.

"...So... I take it that's the equivalence of _'Your mom's fat'_, or something?" The Red Lotus asked, and the Equalist nod lightly, trying not to sob.

"It's actually pretty hurtful..." Bilan mumbled while staring sadly at his cup of rice. Ton-gla pat his friend softly on the shoulder before continuing to eat his second breakfast.

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**(Don't forget what I said about the review segment. Every comment is appreciated.)**


	10. Chapter 10 : Give Up

**Just watched book 4: episode 2, and the _'letter scene'_ made me squee like a 5 year-old girl getting an ice cream.**

**I swear to Vaatu, if they make Korrasami canon in this season, I'll buy every single Avatar comic that comes out after this. ALL OF THEM!**

**(They're really hard to find and very expensive in Thailand; that's how appreciative I'll be.)**

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**Chapter 10: Give Up**

Korra only managed to wash her face and dry half of it before her arms gave up from exhaustion, and she had to hand the towel to Asami. The heiress helped the Avatar to finish and rolled her out of the bathroom.

"So..." Korra said hesitantly while Asami combed her hair after helping her to get dressed, "...does this mean we're...girlfriends?"

"Normally that's how things go," the heiress replied, tucking Korra's hair, "although...I don't think we could call our case 'normal'"

Asami meant it as just a small joke, but the words sparked some concerns in Korra's mind. She noticed Korra's changed expression in the mirror, but said nothing. She waited to see whether the Avatar wanted to tell her, or not.

"How do you think... the others would react if we told them about...us?" Korra finally asked, turning to look at Asami over her shoulder.

The heiress looked down, thinking for moment before answering, "I don't think any of them would...object to us. I mean someone conservative like Tenzin may question us a bit. Mako will probably lose a little bit of self-esteem if he finds out that both his ex-girlfriends have fallen in love with each other, but other than that I think we'll be fine, as long as..."

Asami suddenly stopped like she was retracting something before she could say it, but this didn't go unnoticed by Korra.

"As long as what, Asami?" she asked, but the heiress avoided her eyes.

"N...Nothing. I'm just being paranoid..."

"Asami," Korra called to her, squeezing Asami's hand softly on her shoulder. The heiress sighed, Korra had been willing to share her worries before, and it was only fair for her to be completely honest with the Avatar too.

"As long as things don't go public..." Asami breathed, realizing just how badly and easily that could be misinterpretated afterwards. "I...I mean! Unlike our close friends, other people wouldn't understand or accept this...this relationship easily."

Korra couldn't hold a grudge against what Asami said, since she knew that there was no point. As she thought about it, she sadly had to admit that Asami did have a point.

As a same-sex couples, and being the Avatar and the CEO of Future Industry she might add, this could be the headline of a decade. While the result is unpredictable, Korra knew from her own experiences that the public is unkind to their subject of interest. The people were not above abandoning their savoir as soon as the reputation began to sour.

"Asami, I'm fine with it, if you don't want to tell anyone about us..." Korra said, trying not to sound depressed, but failing.

Asami was both grateful and hurt at the same time; grateful that Korra understood the reason behind her hesitation in announcing their relationship to the public, but also hurt that this was the best they could come up with. The two of them were on the same pacing and completely understood each other; agreeing that they should keep their true feelings a secret to the world.

However, that journalist's face still clung to Asami's mind. That obnoxious creature who would make people, Korra especially in this case, bleed to the headline just to sell news. To let her relationship with Korra reach the public might also mean that Asami would have to hire some Agni Kai members to burn a few publisher buildings down as a warning. Yes, the heiress could actually see herself doing just that if the situation called for it.

Asami broke the uncomfortable silence by crouching behind Korra and wrapping her arm around the Avatar, her chin resting on Korra's shoulder.

"There is nothing wrong with us, Korra. People are just too blind to see past their prejudice."

"I know," Korra slowly turn her face to the side and kissed Asami softly on the lips. It was the third time and their kiss still felt so fresh and exciting. The Avatar smiled, whispering after they parted away, "it feels so right to me."

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Gason sat down at the table and stared at the cup of rice and soup that Bilan prepared for her; the Dark Acolyte looked at the Equalist with very suspicious eyes.

"Should I assume that you might try to...poison me?"

"I would never do that to you, Gason," Bilan's voice is surprisingly sincere, and he confirms her doubts, "if I wanted to kill you, I'd just suffocate you with a pillow in your sleep."

After adding that reasoning to the fact that she'll not be able to fully sleep at night, Gason sighed exhaustingly and slowly ate her breakfast. Bilan almost felt sorry for her, maybe he was taking their rivalry a little bit too seriously.

"So now it's finally your turn, Ton-gla; what's your plan," the Equalist asked as Ton-gla finished bowing his head to an empty cup, thankful for his meal.

As he was about to answer, Gason interrupt coldly, "I'm quitting. Whatever plan you have, I don't want to know."

Both men looked at her with surprise; the girl had only eaten half her breakfast before getting up and walked back to her room. She picked up her luggage, and they assumed she must have packed it already during the previous night.

"Good bye, thanks for the meal..."

"Why do you leave?" Ton-gla asked calmly as Gason walked past him. She didn't stop so the Red Lotus grabbed onto her wrist.

The Dark Acolyte let out a long sigh and answered, "We failed before, we are failing right now, and we will fail again. The Avatar is clearly untouchable. I'm leaving before I get anymore bad luck from involving myself in this mess."

"Last night you told me that you almost kill her," Ton-gla stated willfully.

"_'Almost'_, meaning the universe is messing with you by letting you get your hopes up before plunging it down into the mud," Gason pulled her hand out of Ton-gla's grip.

The Red Lotus stood up and walked in front of her, "I sympathize in your failure, both of you."

Bilan mumble the word _'Really?' _without making a sound when he heard Ton-gla say that.

"But you are truly lost only when you give up. Should you keep fighting, then even an honorable death could be considered as a success" Ton-gla continued.

"Are you sure you try to cheer us up?" Bilan asked loudly while Gason rolled her eyes. She tried to go around him and walk to the door.

Ton-gla quickly side-stepped to block her path, "You are not in this alone, my friend. Together we still have a chance to finish what our associates had started. The death of the Avatar is within our reach, we cannot give up right now."

"You will be lucky if you come out of this alive, Ton-gla, let alone putting a scratch on that girl," Gason pushed Ton-gla aside and moved ahead towards the door, "I'm not going down with a sinking ship."

At this point Bilan had stood up and was about to charge Gason to prevent her from leaving. He wasn't really buying the poorly attempted bedside manner of Ton-gla, but the three of them still had an agreement to keep. Should the Red Lotus member fail, then they could consider disbanding later.

Before the Equalist take a step, Gason suddenly stopped as she was about to reach the door knob. She traced her hand to her throat, her eyes widening as she noticed that she couldn't...

_She couldn't breathe._

"For someone who claim herself to be a clergy person..." Ton-gla lifted his hands to chest level.

Gason turned back to look at him, she tried to take a breath but it felt like there is a block of air stuck in her throat. The girl dropped her luggage, kneeling down while choking. Bilan was both confused and terrified of what was happening.

Ton-gla held out his hand and spoke calmly to Gason.

_**"...I find your lack of faith disturbing."**_

_**.**_

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	11. Chapter 11 : Woman's Instinct

**Chapter 11: Woman's Instinct**

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours Gason thought her life was about to end miserably. She coughed violently, as though she would discharge her entrails, and suddenly, the Dark Acolyte felt the air that blocked her throat finally disappear.

She took the biggest breath of her life; the air had never been sweeter. Gason panted rapidly for a minute until she had gathered enough strength to stand up. She looked at Ton-gla who still held his hand up, but his face showed a disappointed expression

"Can still be easily broken, as I fear..." the Red Lotus mumbled to himself, unaware or ignoring the death glare from Gason.

"What...did you do to me...?" the girl ask menacingly while steadying her breathing.

Ton-gla rubbed his chin as he concentrated his thoughts, glancing to Bilan to check his reaction, who then saying hastily, "Just to let you know! Ton-gla, buddy! I'm sticking with you all the way till the end! Okay I might re-think this when we reach the 'honorable death' part, but for now, death to the Avatar! Am I right?"

Bilan thought this was the most intensely forced smile he ever gave in his life, because whoever said that airbenders were pacifist was a big fat liar!

"Both of you calm down," Ton-gla looked back at Gason, who was still half confused and half angry. "I only demonstrated my technique in hope that it would lift the morality of you two."

"Is...that the same technique that Zaheer used to kill the Earth Queen?" Bilan asked.

"Not exactly the same, Master Zaheer's technique is much more deadly. If the user is not interrupted, the victim will be suffocated to death. However..." Ton-gla paused while looking at his own palm, "my asphyxiation technique is far from perfect. With one strong push of breath, a cough, or even a sneeze, the victim could easily free themselves from my grip. I've been trying to master this technique for a while now, but...as you can see, the result is quite disappointing..."

_**"SO YOU USE ME AS A TRAGET PRACTICE!? YOU BALD BASTARD!"**_

Gason threw her luggage at Ton-gla, who casually turned his head to avoid the hit. Bilan managed to catch the luggage, only inches from colliding with his face, thanking his quick reflexes from his training routines.

"So you're no longer leaving?" Ton-gla asked.

"...Even with your...irritation aside..." Gason spoke through her teeth, trying to continue the conversation civilly, "...wouldn't it be more effective if you just choked the Avatar with you own hands?"

"Yeah, that does seem less complicated," Bilan chimed in while putting down Gason's luggage on the table.

"It's as complicated as when you took your precious time to strike the Avatar with the electrified glove, stalling until it was too late," the Red Lotus said to the Equalist. He then turned to the Dark Acolyte, "and you, who performed a needlessly complicated ritual instead of just climbing through the window and slicing the Avatar's throat open with a knife."

Gason and Bilan didn't know how to respond, although the idea of killing someone with a real weapon terrified the girl a bit.

"Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to accuse both of you as being ineffective," Ton-gla continued, "the three of us know that this mission is more than just an assassination. The death of Avatar Korra maybe an end, but it is not without means. Bilan, you wished to kill the Avatar by the very weapon that your organization had invented. Gason, just like the founder of your creed, you are driven to destroy the Avatar spiritually rather than physically."

Sometimes Bilan forgets how obnoxious Ton-gla can be; the airbender is actually a very profound person. He almost sounds reputable when he goes three sentences without any unintentional insults.

"So...you plan to choke her to death, just like...what's his name?" Gason asked.

"Zaheer" Bilan answered before Ton-gla could.

"Yes, him. But I thought you said your technique still incomplete?" the Dark Acolyte continued.

The Red Lotus revealed a small bottle from under his shirt and showed it to his friend.

"This is a strong muscle relaxant, one drop through the blood vein can immediately paralyze the victim, even to the point of being unable to talk for at least three minutes. With this poison, the Avatar wouldn't be able to break my grip before she dies from lack of breath," Ton-gla explains, "the down side is, after the effect wears off, the victim will become immune to the drug, so we only have one shot."

The Red Lotus put the bottle back in his shirt before walking past Gason to the door. He opened it and turned back to have a final word, "I'll contact you two again later. We need to wait for an opportunity when the Avatar will be alone, so that we can be sure no one will be able to save her. Should the plan goes smoothly..._**people won't even know she was murdered.**_"

The door is closed, leaving Bilan and Gason to look at each other awkwardly. They didn't know what to make of a sudden, murderous personality that their polite friend just pulled off.

"Bald head, pretending to join the Air nation, using poison, and want to use suffocation as a finishing move to kill the Avatar, he clearly has an image problem," the Equalist commented after waiting to be sure that Ton-Gla was out of hearing range.

"That, or he has a massive man-crush on that Zaheer dude, creeps me out either way," the Dark Acolyte added before picking up her luggage and walking back in her room.

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* * *

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Despite a little delay, Korra and Asami eventually joined the airbender family at the dining table for breakfast, to Tenzin's and Jinora's surprise, since the Avatar seemed to disconnect herself from the outside world lately. Most of the time she wouldn't even join them at the table, choosing instead to eat in her room with only Asami to accompany her.

Everyone around the table greeted the two naturally, Asami secretly sighed in her mind while glancing at Pema. It seemed like she hadn't told anyone about what she saw...and heard, in the room.

"So, am I have a healing session today, Katara?" Korra asked the waterbender.

Katara took a sip of her tea before responding, "Do you feel any pain or anything unusual with your condition?"

Korra shook her head, and Katara nodded, "Then it's best we let your body rest and recover by itself for a day or two."

"It looks like you're free all day, Korra," Asami chimed. Korra smiled back at her. The healing sessions may be necessary for her recovery, but it can be very painful sometimes. She wouldn't protest to skipping them once in a while.

Pema put a plate of breakfast in front of Korra, mostly containing soft food, and a few vegetable pieces for her to chew on. Korra tried to eat them by herself at first, but her arm gave up like before, when she washing her face. Asami held Korra's hand to help her support the spoon while still letting her eat on her own. The heiress worried that the Avatar might feel embarrassed if she fed her directly as they would usually do.

Katara raised an eyebrow at their behavior, but said nothing and continued sipping her tea.

"So, any interesting news around here?" the Avatar asked after eating more than half of her breakfast, resting her arm on the table for a moment. Korra's sight was still too blurry to focus on a tiny print of the newspaper, and for some reason the radio in her room had suddenly stopped working about two days ago.

"We're getting a new uniform!" Meelo yelled excitedly, "they said it'll make us fly like a lemur!"

"Yes... a wing suit," Tenzin sighed.

Asami remembered him mentioning the new uniform, and how it will make more use of the airbender's abilities. However, the old monk was still conflicted about the idea; clearly unhappy at abandoning part of their traditions to keep up with the evolving world.

"We're having the first flight test this morning, you should came to watch, Korra!" Ikki suggested. She was as eager as Meelo, like a child excited to get a new toy.

"Sounds great!" Korra replied, taking the last bite of a food from the spoon that she had managed to lift up by herself. Asami smiled at her as a compliment for finishing her meal almost by herself. She helped wipe the Avatar's mouth softly with a napkin, knowing that Korra's arm had probably reached her limit; neither of them wanting to push their luck and risk ending up at the healing session that Katara had just postponed.

Bumi stared at the two girls with suspicious eyes. He felt like there was something weird between the two, but couldn't put his finger on what it was. It's cute, but in a way that made him want to turn away out of respect for their privacy...

Katara on the other hand, leaned to Pema and whispered to her while watching Asami as she helped Korra sip a glass of water, "Is there something you didn't tell me, Pema?"

"Umm...what?" Pema looked genuinely confused.

"I am the best healer in the Water tribe, dear, and I know that this is a little beyond ordinary nursing," Katara put on a small grin.

Pema suddenly realized what Katara meant. She hadn't noticed before since she already knew what going on between Asami and Korra; at least if there was no plot twist from what she had seen in the Avatar's room.

The two girls looked like they were flirting with each other.

The eye contact, the smile, the giggle, and the way they touched and held hands more often than necessary. Every movement hinted at a sign of intimacy above friendship level, but for some reason, no one around the table seemed to notice this besides her mother-in-law. Although Bumi looked like he was trying his best to solve the mystery, the old sailor clearly needed the early retirement he had taken.

"Just tell me later, if you don't want anyone else to hear," Katara whispered. Pema nodded with a small grin.

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**Next week I probably busying animated 5 peacocks for some commercial about condominium, but should the review pop up enough time, I might find a strength to update sooner.**

**(lol Just kidding, but seriously, the review are always appreciated.) **


	12. Chapter 12 : Patient of the Wind

**Chapter 12 : Patient of the Wind**

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Ton-gla feel the cold wind touch upon his cheek as he flies higher and higher into the sky, Air Temple Island becoming smaller by the second. When he reaches cloud level the Red Lotus switches his glider back to staff form, and lets himself fall...

In the courtyard, Tenzin, Bumi, Korra, Asami, the airbender kids, and around 10 airbending students (including Kai) are gathered around, looking up in the sky to see Ton-gla slowly reappear after he vanished into the clouds moments ago. Some of the students start to panic when Ton-gla continues to fall limply closer to the ground, thinking he might have passed outduringthe climb up, butbefore anyone could react the Red Lotus throws his staff passed the courtyard, sticking it into the soft ground beside the big tree. He crosses his arms and released the red cloth under his armpit, twisting fabulously in midair before gliding around the temple and landing safely in front of Tenzin.

"Wow, he's good." Korra whispered. This boy's airbending skill was beyond impressive, not since Zaheer had she seen any airbender with such talent...

The thought of her old nemesis caused an aching in her veins for a second; Asami noticed her change of expression. Although she didn't know what caused the pained look, she immediately kneeled down to squeeze Korra's hand softly while no one pay attention to them.

No one, that is, except Bumi. However the old sailor still couldn't figure out what was going on between the two girls, nor why he felt so interested in the subject. He switched his gaze back to Ton-gla after the girls nodded to each other with a small smile, and Asami stood back up.

"So how's the wingsuit, Ton-gla?" Tenzin asked the boy who quickly became his favorite pupil in only a couple of days since arriving. The other students would have said that Tenzin was playing favorites, if not for the fact that Ton-gla had proven to everyone that he possesses a true real talent, instead of adulation. That's why he was chosen to be the first one to test this new version of Air Nation clothing.

"Convenient, yes, but the lack of style and elegance in the art of airbending is almost...unbearable," Ton-gla responded with an overly dramatic and angst expression, "why do we imitate the behavior of an animal (lemur), when part of being human is the ability to conduct the art outside of a primal instinct? This suit may surpass the glider in its effectiveness, but it hinders the beauty of it in the process..."

"Asami, what did he say?" Korra asked the heiress, she can't hear what Ton-gla is saying, but from the look of his face and his hands gesturing dramatically, she can guess that it must be something important.

"I'm...not sure either..." Asami replied, she could only catch 'animal behavior' and 'primal instinct', having no idea how they're connected or have anything to do with this flight test.

The Red Lotus kept babbling about for a minute or two before finally closing his statement "...and by all means, I still prefer a glider over this...wingsuit"

Tenzin was the only one in the courtyard that didn't stunt silently with confusion. In fact, the old monk looked like he was trying to hold back his joyful tears. Oh, the passion and the love for the traditional way of air nomad culture. The beautiful utterance of the words that pulled his heart strings; if Korra wasn't the Avatar, Tenzin would have thought that this boy was his father's reincarnation.

"I understand, Ton-gla," Tenzin's words made everyone raise their eyebrows; all of them are as confused as Korra, even though their hearing still worked perfectly.  
"But..." the airbending master paused, seeming lightly disappointed of what he had to say, "...you did confirm that this suit is effective in its use."

Ton-gla nodded in agreement.

"Then we are obliged to use them in our mission to subdue chaos in Earth Kingdom..."

Ton-gla's expression remained calm for the entire conversation, his composed nature managed to keep him from showing any emotion. The thought of his order's work now getting intervened by the Air Nation secretly begrudged him; since the fall of Be Seng Sei is their only accomplishment after they failed to end the Avatar cycle. Furthermore, the culture of freedom was now seeking to compromise the freedom the Red Lotus has brought to the world, a tragic irony.

"...but of course, this will only be optional, should you or anyone else prove yourself to be more practical with glider, then you're free to use them," Tenzin spoke not only to Ton-gla but to every airbender in the courtyard, although none of them seemed to share Ton-gla's opinion or sense of fashion.

"I respect your decision, Master," the Red Lotus gave a bow, and Tenzin nodded to him before moving on to help Jinora coach the other students for their first flight.

"I wish to could try that," Korra said she watched the air students take off into the sky, some of them seemed to have problem and flapped their wingsuit like a clunky otter-penguin. "Huh...listen to me, can't even go to the bathroom by myself and somehow thinking about flying."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll look good in tight suit," Asami teased with a wicked grin. The Avatar smirked back at her, well aware of the heiress' dirty thought.

"Avatar Korra. Miss Sato," both girls turn to Ton-gla who silently approaching them, it was almost spooky. He bowed his head to Korra, before nodding politely to Asami, "my apologies if I was interrupting, but it is an honor to meet you."

"Hi, you are...Ton-gla, isn't it?" Korra recalled the name Tenzin told her before the flight test.

"So generous of you to remember my name," the Red Lotus gave a courteous smile to the girl in a wheelchair, while his thoughts race in an opposite direction. What was stopping him from ending this, right here, right now? He was only three steps away from the Avatar, unarmed he may be but harmless he is never, the Sato girl may know martial arts but she wouldn't be able to stop him. Everyone besides him had their guard down, one slice of wind pierced across the Avatar's chest and he'd be done with it. The cycle may continue, but the message would be sent that the Red Lotus would stop at nothing to bring anarchy and freedom to this world. The Avatar's victory would be short lived, and her demise, gruesome.

However, such reckless actions would only show desperation; Ton-gla preferred the Avatar's death to be poetic, silent and clean. For that, he's willing to wait.

"I've never seen you before, are you new?" Asami asked.

"Yes, I arrived only two days ago."

"Really? You've only learned airbending for two days and you are this good?" Korra said in surprise. Even she took some time to master airbending after she had unlocked it. Producing a gust of wind or creating an air scooter, sure, but not this complicated of a move; and certainly not the perfect gliding performance the boy just pulled off. "You really are gifted."

"Not a gift, a skill," Ton-gla corrected her in a polite tone so as not to offend anyone, "I practiced my bending by myself before joining the Air Nation. So everything you see is the result of hard work, and dedication."

The Red Lotus' thought continue to wander...

_That's why the Avatar has no place in this world, her naive words reflect her very nature towards those who have inborn traits, and consider themselves above others. __She had judged his talent to be a gift, instead of a skill._

_The prodigy is trained, not born._

__Ton-gla wished he could spit these words in the Avatar's face.

"Thank you for your time, Avatar Korra, Miss Sato. If you'll excuse me, I need to go back to my training," Ton-gla walked away to pick up his staff and left the courtyard.

"He seems like a nice guy," Asami commented. If anything, she felt like he is one of the few airbenders who acted like a real airbender from the history books, with the calm atmosphere and politeness and all.

"He definitely reminded me of Tenzin, minus all the strictness," Korra added, causing both of them to chuckle before Asami wheeled her back into the building.

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After breakfast, Gason locked herself in her room and tried meditating to clear her head. She felt quite embarrassed that the use of the dark side, spirit nightmare ritual backfired, and she now ended up being the one to get haunted in her sleep. The Dark Acolyte opened her eyes before letting out a long sigh, those bunnies were not going to give her a break anytime soon.

When Gason left the room, she was greeted with an unusual site. Bilan was standing in front of a big mirror...that look like he had pieced it together from a dozen broken shards to create it. He turned around, looking at his reflection while wearing a blue-white trench coat, which appeared to be an Equalist uniform mix with the White Lotus color scheme.

"Oh Unaloq..." Gason cursed her former master's name. People usually cursed the Avatar's name, but she really want to keep in touch with her cult, so she chose to curse the Dark Avatar's instead. "Am I going to regret asking what you are doing?"

"I'm about to throw my White Lotus disguise away..." the Equalist answered without looking at her, "but I noticed that most of its pieces are surprisingly still intact. Since we have all time in the world, waiting Ton-gla to make his move, I tried fixing it. I wanted to see if I could make something worth wearing out of that rag of garbage."

"And I see you have failed miserably," the Dark Acolyte mumbled out the latter part, "nature dictates, some things are better left to rot away than trying to recycle it."

"What are you talking about? I look amazing! If the revolution hadn't died down, this could have been a uniform for Water Tribe Equalists!" Bilan continued as he admired himself in the mirror.

"For a secret organization that relies on stealth and espionage? The only thing that stupid dress would blend in with is a colony of otter-penguins," Gason retorted, making Bilan grunt under his breath.

He decided to change the subject to avoid a fight, since she'd be the one who started it, but he would probably throw the first punch, and that didn't look good for him.

"I've been meaning to ask, what's our evaluation on the Avatar and Miss Sato? Did you see her last night?"

The Dark Acolyte froze with wide eyes momentarily, as she poured herself a glass of hippo-cow milk by the kitchen sink.

"Well..." Gason said awkwardly, sipping her milk before sitting at the table with Bilan sitting across from her, "I... She... It's really complicated..."

"If this is about your failure, there's nothing to worry about. Ton-gla already told me most of the detail about how those spirits nearly drowned you in the ocean. In case you want to know my thoughts, it's cute and disturbing at the same time, please take that as a compliment."

The Equalist was lucky that the table is quite wide, because the Dark Acolyte strongly considered slapping his face for a second, but her small body came within a short reach of arm range.

"So you can skip the part where the bunnies beat you, just go straight to the girl-on-girl action..."

"There was no girl-on-girl action! You pervert!" Gason flamed with high pitch voice, "the Sato girl just... I mean they... Ahh!...How should I explain this?!"

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	13. Chapter 13 : Observation

**Chapter 13 : Observation**

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"...and then those bastard, furry balls took me up in the air and flew away, I don't know what happened inside her room after that."  
Gason finished explaining her mission, from her nightmare ritual to the...bunny incident, "as you can see, there's nothing weird between those two, the Sato girl just happened to walk past the room and hear the Avatar whimpering, and she, as any good _FRIEND_ would do, tried to help her."

"Well that was disappointing," Bilan sighed boringly. While this did not yet knock out his suspicions about the Avatar and the heiress, it didn't provide any evidence to support it either.

_Of course it's disappointing; I left out all the details about the Avatar's nightmare,_

Gason thought to herself. What happened in the Avatar's dream was far more suspicious than any strange vibe Bilan picked up during his assassination attempt. She would never tell him though, not if it meant giving him the satisfaction of pointing at her face and saying _'Told ya!'_

Since they both failed to kill the Avatar, the only thing left for them to be rivals about is...disturbingly...a debate about the Avatar's sexuality.

_I don't like my odds here, the Avatar getting accused in her dream obviously came from her own conscious, meaning her internal fears. However deep it was buried, there's a high chance that she does have some romantic interest in the Sato girl._

"I don't understand where you got this crazy idea from, it's kinda perverted though," Gason continued casually, sipping the last drop of her hippo-cow milk.

"Hey! I'm just speaking my mind, and what you saw hasn't proven me wrong yet. I'll bet my Water Tribe Equalist uniform that there is something going on between those two."

"Firstly, I don't want that clown suit. Second, you're just fantasizing. Just because two girls who are close friends spend some time together that means they're lovers? A couple? You people and your dirty hallucinations. I'm telling you there is absolutely nothing going on between the Avatar and the Sato girl! NOTHING!"

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Two lips part ways after a moment of silence, one of which belonged to a mocha skinned girl as it curved up into a smirk, the other frown in a teasing manner.

"Korra! Somebody could see us," Asami whispered after the Avatar had stolen a quick kiss while they were alone in the library. The heiress was reading some of the old stories about the past Avatars to the current one, who seemed to take more interest in the reader than the chapter.

"I thought you only wanted to keep our secret from the _public_ eye."

"The public has eyes and ears everywhere."

"...You're right..." Korra sighed, "I'm sorry for showing my love."  
She faked a sad face that fooled no one, but made Asami's level of adoration go through the roof. She sighed and gave a quick kiss on the Avatar's cheek, who smiled victoriously.

The heiress didn't mind letting her win, it had been too long since Korra had displayed her playfulness. It was almost as if the fire of life that died out in her had finally reignited once again, and Asami was more than pleased to be the one that sparked it.

"Now, shall we continue on the Avatar Din's story?" Asami turned her attention back to the picture of a muscular man lifting a giant boulder on the top of the mountain. Korra nodded casually but both eyes made no effort to move away from the heiress face, as she listened to Asami reading about one of the earthbending Avatars.

Behind the library door, Ton-gla was leaning against the wall, eavesdropping on the couple. The Avatar's choice of lover didn't bother him a bit; he could care less about her sexuality. The Avatar's existence was already unnatural to begin with.

What bothered him was that since they left the courtyard, the Avatar and Miss Sato hadn't spent more than five seconds away from each other's side. They played Pai-sho for about an hour and a half on a balcony, Miss Sato wheeled Korra to the flower garden at a cliff side and stayed with her the whole time, they ate lunch together under a plum tree(that he was hidden in), and now in the library, Sato girl was no less than the Avatar's shadow at this point.

Ton-gla hoped that this wouldn't continue as a usual pattern in their daily life, else his plan was going to have a massive set-back before it even started.

The Red Lotus paused his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming his way. Jumping up, he quickly remove one of the ceiling planks and slipped into the attic, doing so without making any sound. The Air temple's inner structure was designed in a way that was just begging for someone to be sneaky. He'd been there less than three days and already he could move around the temple's ins and outs without anyone noticing.

Ton-gla listened as the footsteps walked pass the library; it was probably one of the air acolytes. After waiting until the sound disappeared, he slipped back down to the hallway, determined to continue to eavesdropping on the couple. He vowed to continue stalking them day and night until his opportunity arose.

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"Why do I need to go buy groceries?" Gason asked harshly while Bilan handed her a list that he had just finished writing.

"Because we're out of rice, spices, tofu, milk, and six different kinds of vegetables, which are listed specifically on that note, so choose carefully. Also the tomato..."

"But why _me_?"

"Because I was..., no, _am_ an Equalist, and it's not the smartest thing to wander into the scene of my crimes. I don't care what that idiot Raiko said, I'm sure many benders still hold a grudge against our revolution," Bilan rubbed his own face gently. He could put on a disguise for walking down public streets, but why risk your neck when you can make somebody else do it for you?

"So? My master turned into a giant spirit and almost destroyed the entire city! Compared to your uprising..."

"Yes, your master did. Fortunately you and your cult played no role in that whatsoever."

Gason grit her teeth with annoyance, the Equalist never missed an opportunity to remind her of how the Dark Acolytes never got to see the light of day...no pun intended.

"Come to think of it, did he even get passed the shore...?"

"Enough! I'm going!" Gason grabbed the list and walked past the exit.

After she left the room Bilan continued to yell after her, "be back before five PM, alright? I'm fine with you getting snacks but don't eat too many of them, or you'll be full before dinner. Also, do not talk to strangers! Considering you're a Fire Nation native but lived at the North Pole, I guess that makes everyone in the city..."

"You're not my mother, Bilan!" the Dark Acolyte yelled back. Who would have thought the Equalist could be even more irritating now that he had too much free time. Turns out the former terrorist had a disturbing passion for housework; with cooking, cleaning, sewing, the list goes on.

"Thank the spirits for that, you look like you'd be a disappointing daughter."

Gason let out a groan, trying to count to one-hundred to subdue her anger.

Still some frustration slipped from her mouth, "I'd poison his food if I didn't eat with him."

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**Thai word**

**Din : means 'Earth', "Dirt", "Ground"**


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